The Biological Feature Of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Stem Cells

Main Category: Pancreatic Cancer
Also Included In: Stem Cell Research;  Radiology / Nuclear Medicine
Article Date: 24 Sep 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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Pancreatic carcinoma is an obstinate disease that is difficult to deal with, the five-year survival rate is 4%. Conventionally, the main treatments for pancreatic cancer are surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Despite advances in surgical and medical therapy, little effect has been made on the mortality rate of this disease.

The theory of tumor stem cells proposed that, the capacity of a tumor to grow and propagate is dependent on a small subset of cells (so-called tumor stem cells), the tumor stem cells are responsible for tumor formation and maintenance. If we may destroy these tumor stem cells, it will be possible to treat successfully tumors. The initial isolation and identification of tumor stem cells was first proved in hematological malignancies. However, it is difficult to purify tumor stem cells because of lack of specific cell surface markers in solid tumors. Subsequently researchers have discovered a small population of cancer stem cells in several malignancies, including brain, prostate, liver, lung, melanoma, and colon tumors.

A research team leaded by CY Wang, described an isolation of a subset of PANC-1cells that expressed surface marker CD44 and CD24 which have properties of tumor stem cells. This research article was published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology .

Using an elegant study design, including flow cytometry analysis, a model of transplantation of cells, they found that CD44+ CD24+ cells have the biologial behaviors of lower proliferative index and faster tumor growth rate in vivo.

Further research should study further purification and other biological behaviors of pancreatic adenocarcinoma stem cells.

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Reference: Huang P, Wang CY, Gou SM, Wu HS, Liu T, Xiong JX. Isolation and biological analysis of tumor stem cell of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells World J Gastroenterol 2008;14(24): 3903-3907 http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/3903.asp

Correspondence to: Chun-You Wang, Department of Pancreatic Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, Hubei Province, China.

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection. It provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of every month. The WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the title China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

About The WJG Press

The WJG Press mainly publishes World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Source: Lai-Fu Li
World Journal of Gastroenterology

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