Abstract
Abstract The present failure of most current therapies to cure cancers is thought to be the relative resistance of cancer initiating cells (CIC), also known as cancer stem cells, to chemotherapy and radiation. Following repeated cancer treatments, tumors can remain with a high percentage of CIC and become more aggressive and resistant to further treatment. What has been missing up to now is a therapy directed at CIC also known as cancer stem cells. Without elimination of these cells, cancer recurrence is inevitable. We believe that the major objective of cancer therapy should be to target CIC specifically. However, there has not been a reliable method for detecting CIC within tumors that would allow prospective isolation of these cells in sufficient numbers for analysis, characterization and evaluation of novel therapeutics. This has proved to be a major barrier to development of effective CIC targeted cancer therapeutics. Advances in cancer therapy will depend on development of reliable early detection methods and targeting strategies specific for CIC. We have discovered a unique cell type with cancer initiating cell characteristics in metastatic cancers. These cells have a protective pericellular coat, divide rapidly and grow as chains of cells - thus the name catena = chain. In xenograft studies in mice, nearly every catena cell was shown to be a CIC. Catena are resistant to standard therapies (e.g. paclitaxel, cisplatin) and more than 1,000 pharmaceutical agents that are in development for cancer treatment. Catena lack all of the biomarkers currently used for cancer detection and are undetectable by current diagnostic tests that utilize monoclonal antibodies (e.g. to CA125, HE4, Mesothelin, WT1, CD44, EPCAM, CD133). We subsequently developed the CATENAE cell culture technology to propagate these cells in vitro while maintaining their cancer initiating properties. This technology provides for the first time adequate number of CIC for detailed analysis and could be the key to both better therapies and more efficient detection of cancer at an early stage when it is curable. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-206. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-LB-206
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