New Approach in Treating Colorectal Cancer through Stem Cell Biology (Video)

Researchers from the Princess Margaret Cancer Center have uncovered a new approach to treating colorectal cancer. Through the disarmament of a gene that drives self-renewal in stem cells, which also causes the root of the disease, they may be able to better treat this and other types of cancer.

"This is the first step toward clinically applying the principles of cancer stem cell biology to control cancer growth and advance the development of durable cures," said principal investigator Dr. John Dick, via a press release.

The study notes that Dick is responsible for first identifying leukemia stem cells in 1994 and colon cancer stem cells back in 2007. He is also renowned for isolating a human blood stem cell in its purest form as a single stem cell that's capable of regenerating the entire blood system and that could potentially pave the way for clinical use.

In pre-clinical experiments, the research team used mice to replicate human colon cancer in order to determine if specific targets of the stem cells were clinically relevant.

The researchers first worked to identify the gene BMI-1, that's known as a regulator of colon cancer stem cells and works to drive self-renewal cycyles, cell survival and proliferation.

Next, the team worked with a small-molecule inhibitor to block BMI-1.

Lead author Dr. Antonija Kreso writes: "Inhibiting a recognized regulator of self-renewal is an effective approach to control tumor growth, providing strong evidence for the clinical relevance of self-renewal as a biological process for therapeutic targeting," Dr. Antonija Kreso said, via the release, who is also the lead study author.
Dick also added that by blocking the BMI-1 pathway, stem cells were unable to self-renew and reversed tumor growth. "In other words, the cancer was permanently shut down," he said, via the release.

Researchers find these experiments particularly exciting as they could provide new knowledge into more personalized cancer treatments and medicines.

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Nature Medicine.

Want to find out more about the study? Check out this video, courtesy of the release.