Stem cells, cancer vaccine

2018/02/15 Agirre Ruiz de Arkaute, Aitziber - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biokimika
• Medikuntza

Researchers at Stanford University have said that stem cells could be used as cancer vaccines. They have highlighted that stem and cancer cells have unique similarities: some and others have no limited capacity for growth and reproduction. In addition, they have observed that similar antigens appear in their membranes, suggesting that the treated stem cells can be integrated into the body and use the immune system to train against cancer.

Mice tests have been conducted and in the journal Cell Stem Cell, 7 out of 10 mice have been shown to inhibit tumor growth. For this purpose, in the first place, the mice have received and reprogrammed skin or blood cells. These induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) have been devoid of the ability to radiate and replicate to avoid the risk of teratomas formation. Injected into mice, these inactive stem cells have seen the antitumor response of T lymphocytes activate.

For the moment, the test has been carried out with breast, skin and lung cancer, obtaining similar results in the three cases. They point out that the future goal would be to develop an individualized vaccine for each person with their iPS cells, which would serve to achieve protection against many types of cancer.