Eliminating cancer stem cells (CSCs) within a tumor could hold the key to successful therapys for ovary cancer, which has been notoriously difficult to detect and treat, as per new findings published this week in the journal Oncogene by Yale School of Medicine researchers.

"We observed that stopping the expression of two genesLin28 and Oct4reduces ovary cancer cell growth and survival," said Yingqun Huang, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine.

Ovary cancer has been challenging to treat because it tends to recur frequently and develop resistance to therapy. The poor outcome for women with ovary cancer has been linked to subtle and nonspecific symptomsearning it the moniker the "disease that whispers."

"This recurrence and drug resistance appears to be due to the presence of CSCs within the tumors that have the capacity to reproduce and to differentiate into non-CSC tumor cells that repopulate the tumor mass," said Huang, who is a member of Yale Stem Cell Center and Yale Cancer Center. "Eliminating these CSCs appears to be key to successful therapys".

While in the process of studying the functions of stem cell proteins in human embryonic stem cells, Huang and her colleagues unexpectedly discovered that a sub-population of ovary cancer cells express stem cell proteins Lin28 and Oct4. They also observed that the two proteins appear to act together in ovary cancer tissue cells to produce more advanced tumors. Inhibiting their combined expression led to a significant decrease in the growth and survival of cancer cells. A larger-scale ovary cancer study is currently underway to confirm the significance of the findings.

"We hope we will soon be able to apply this new information to improve outcomes, perhaps by developing better diagnostic markers and therapy strategies that appears to be useful in customizing therapy for ovary cancer patients," said Huang.


Posted by: Jesmi24    Source

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