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Stem cell researcher targets 'seeds' of breast cancer metastasis

Date:
July 11, 2014
Source:
University of Southern California - Health Sciences
Summary:
For breast cancer patients, the era of personalized medicine may be just around the corner. Breast cancer cells circulating through the blood streams of six patients have been isolated for study in a recent research project. Some of these deadly cancer cells are the "seeds" of metastasis, which travel to and establish secondary tumors in vital organs such as the bone, lungs, liver and brain.
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For breast cancer patients, the era of personalized medicine may be just around the corner, thanks to recent advances by USC Stem Cell researcher Min Yu and scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

In a July 11 study in Science, Yu and her colleagues report how they isolated breast cancer cells circulating through the blood streams of six patients. Some of these deadly cancer cells are the "seeds" of metastasis, which travel to and establish secondary tumors in vital organs such as the bone, lungs, liver and brain.

Yu and her colleagues managed to expand this small number of cancer cells in the laboratory over a period of more than six months, enabling the identification of new mutations and the evaluation of drug susceptibility.

If perfected, this technique could eventually allow doctors to do the same: use cancer cells isolated from patients' blood to monitor the progression of their diseases, pre-test drugs and personalize treatment plans accordingly.

In the six estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer patients in the study, the scientists found newly acquired mutations in the estrogen receptor gene (ESR1), PIK3CA gene and fibroblast growth factor receptor gene (FGFR2), among others. They then tested either alone or in combination several anticancer drugs that might target tumor cells with these mutations and identified which ones merit further study. In particular, the drug Ganetspib -- also known as STA-9090 -- appeared to be effective in killing tumor cells with the ESR1 mutation.

"Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer-related death," said Yu, assistant professor in the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. "By understanding the unique biology of each individual patient's cancer, we can develop targeted drug therapies to slow or even stop their diseases in their tracks."


Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Southern California - Health Sciences. Original written by Cristy Lytal. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. M. Yu, A. Bardia, N. Aceto, F. Bersani, M. W. Madden, M. C. Donaldson, R. Desai, H. Zhu, V. Comaills, Z. Zheng, B. S. Wittner, P. Stojanov, E. Brachtel, D. Sgroi, R. Kapur, T. Shioda, D. T. Ting, S. Ramaswamy, G. Getz, A. J. Iafrate, C. Benes, M. Toner, S. Maheswaran, D. A. Haber. Ex vivo culture of circulating breast tumor cells for individualized testing of drug susceptibility. Science, 2014; 345 (6193): 216 DOI: 10.1126/science.1253533

Cite This Page:

University of Southern California - Health Sciences. "Stem cell researcher targets 'seeds' of breast cancer metastasis." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 July 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140711092244.htm>.
University of Southern California - Health Sciences. (2014, July 11). Stem cell researcher targets 'seeds' of breast cancer metastasis. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 18, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140711092244.htm
University of Southern California - Health Sciences. "Stem cell researcher targets 'seeds' of breast cancer metastasis." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140711092244.htm (accessed March 18, 2024).

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