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The mesenchyme in cancer therapy as a target tumor component, effector cell modality and cytokine expression vehicle

Dov Zipori1

  • 1Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. dov.zipori@weizmann.ac.il

Cancer Metastasis Reviews
|September 27, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Targeting tumor stroma, the supportive tissue in cancers, offers new therapeutic strategies. Genetically modified mesenchymal cells show promise for treating incurable human diseases by targeting tumor growth.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Cell Biology
  • Biotechnology

Background:

  • Mesenchymal stroma supports normal tissue function by regulating growth and differentiation.
  • Tumor growth is critically dependent on the associated tumor stroma.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore therapeutic strategies targeting tumor stroma.
  • To investigate the potential of utilizing mesenchymal stroma tropism for cancer regression.
  • To review the use of genetically modified mesenchymal cells for cancer therapy.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on tumor stroma targeting.
  • Discussion of genetic modification of mesenchymal cells to express therapeutic molecules.
  • Examination of studies using interferon beta and activin A in cancer models.

Main Results:

  • Blocking tumor-associated stroma can potentially halt tumor progression.
  • Mesenchymal stroma's natural tropism to tumors can be exploited for cancer treatment.
  • Genetically modified mesenchymal cells show therapeutic potential for specific cancers.

Conclusions:

  • Targeting tumor stroma represents a promising avenue for cancer therapy.
  • Mesenchymal stem cells, genetically modified, offer a potential cell/gene therapy modality for intractable cancers.
  • Further development in stroma targeting and mesenchymal cell therapies may lead to novel clinical treatments for human cancers.

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