The Change Mariner

Stem Cells Attack Cancer in Mice

Yahoo! News:

Stem cells, immature cells already showing promise as tools to regenerate and replace damaged tissue, may also help target and destroy cancer, U.S. scientists said on Monday.

Tests in mice showed [stem] cells could deliver powerful cancer-killing proteins, destroying tumors while leaving healthy cells untouched.

Dr. Michael Andreeff and colleagues at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston used cells taken from bone marrow. These immature cells, known as mesenchymal stem cells, usually give rise to muscle and other tissues.

The researchers genetically engineered these cells to carry interferon alpha, an immune system protein that can help kill cancer cells, or a cancer-destroying virus.

In mice these cells slowed several kinds of leukemia, attacked melanoma -- skin cancer and breast cancer cells -- that had spread to the lung, and tackled brain tumors.

Posted by Timothy Fredel at March 30, 2004 10:33 AM | TrackBack
Related Categories: Area - Tech - Genetics | Industry - Healthcare | Industry - Pharmaceutical/Biotech | Quadrant - Technological | Theme - 'The Biotech Century'

The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy (Basic Bioethics)
The MIT Press

Amazon Price: $15.75

God and the Embryo: Religious Voices on Stem Cells and Cloning
Georgetown University Press

Amazon Price: $17.79

The Stem Cell Controversy: Debating the Issues (Contemporary Issues (Prometheus))
Prometheus Books

Amazon Price: $14.28

Stem Cells and The Future Of Regenerative Medicine
National Academy Press

Amazon Price: $19.95