Cells that lurk and linger beneath
Now a $700,000 grant from the Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation will provide critical start-up funding at City of Hope for investigations of the role of these cells in leukemia and other cancers. The grant also will support research into the development of therapies that target and destroy these cells.
Cancer stem cells constitute a small portion of tumors, but play a key role in the proliferation of cancer cells, scientists said. Funding from the grant will provide initial equipment and supplies, as well as salaries for postdoctoral fellows and research personnel within City of Hope’s Department of Stem Cell & Leukemia Research.
The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 44,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with some form of leukemia this year.
photo: BILL RICHRavi Bhatia
Beginning with studies of leukemia in the 1980s, a growing body of evidence indicates that a small subpopulation of cancer cells may give rise to cancer. These so-called “cancer stem cells” share two characteristics with normal stem cells: They are self-renewing and can divide indefinitely to produce copies of themselves, and they can differentiate into other cell types found in organs of the body or, in the case of cancer, tumor cells.
Cancer stem cells have been identified for other blood cancers and for breast, brain and lung cancers, among others. And while current cancer therapies kill the majority of mature cancer cells within a tumor, studies have shown that malignant stem cells can persist even when the patient appears in complete remission.
“What is clear from previous research is that several — if not all — leukemias arise from small subpopulations of leukemia stem cells,” said Ravi Bhatia, M.D., professor in City of Hope’s Division of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and director of the Department of Hematopoietic Stem Cell & Leukemia Research, who will lead the program. “Before cures can be developed, a number of questions must be answered regarding the nature of leukemia stem cells and their resistance to elimination by conventional treatments. This grant will provide us with the equipment and talent to fully investigate these questions and ultimately design treatments that will uniquely target cancer stem cells.”
Investigators in the department will study the differences in signaling and gene regulation between normal and malignant stem cells and use the abnormal activity of the leukemia stem cells as targets for therapy. A major area of focus will include cell self-renewal, survival and growth regulation in normal versus malignant stem cells.
“Cancer stem cells are an increasingly vital part of oncology research,” said Norris Foundation Executive Director Ronald R. Barnes. “The Norris Foundation is proud to support City of Hope’s efforts in cancer stem cell research, which has the potential to change current beliefs about the spread of cancers and effective treatment approaches.”
Recently joining Bhatia in his studies were assistant professors Takahiro Maeda, M.D., Ph.D., and Ya-Huei Kuo, Ph.D. Plans call for an additional faculty researcher.
The Department of Stem Cell & Leukemia Research is housed within City of Hope’s Division of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, under the overall direction of Stephen J. Forman, M.D., the Francis and Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. In 1976, City of Hope was one of the first medical centers in the nation to successfully perform bone marrow transplantation for leukemia. Today, City of Hope has one of the largest and most successful transplant programs in the world, with innovative protocols for patients with a variety of hematologic cancers and other diseases.
Family founded, the Norris Foundation supports programs that advance better health and intellectual enlightenment through education, cultivation of the arts, individual responsibility, freedom and dignity.