Cancer Stem Cells May Be At The Root Of Brain Tumors - Stem Cells Resistant To Chemotherapy

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 15 May 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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Stem cells - popularly known as a source of biological rejuvenation - may play harmful roles in the body, specifically in the growth and spread of cancer. Amongst the wildly dividing cells of a tumor, scientists have located cancer stem cells. Physician-scientists from New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell are studying these cells with the hope of combating malignant cancers in the brain. Some patients' brain tumors respond to chemotherapy and some don't, according to Dr. John A. Boockvar, the Alvina and Willis Murphy Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery and head of the Brain Tumor Research Group, at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, who believes that cancer stem cells may be the cause.

Dr. Boockvar is capturing and classifying these cancer stem cells in order to determine how they react to certain available drug therapies. Doing so will lead to more accurate and specific cancer diagnosis, allowing for tailored drug treatments.

Results explaining the techniques used to harvest normal neural and brain-tumor-derived stem cells are described in a recent edition of the journal Neurosurgery.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, located in New York City, is one of the leading academic medical centers in the world, comprising the teaching hospital NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical College, the medical school of Cornell University. NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine, and is committed to excellence in patient care, education, research and community service. Weill Cornell physician-scientists have been responsible for many medical advances - from the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer to the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial for gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, the first indication of bone marrow's critical role in tumor growth, and, most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally-conscious brain-injured patient. NewYork-Presbyterian, which is ranked sixth on the U.S.News & World Report list of top hospitals, also comprises NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/The Allen Pavilion. Weill Cornell Medical College is the first U.S. medical college to offer a medical degree oversees and maintains a strong global presence in Austria, Brazil, Haiti, Tanzania, Turkey and Qatar.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Weill Cornell Medical Center