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UCI stem cell therapy attacks cancer by targeting unique tissue stiffness – UCI News

By Stell Cell Research

Irvine, Calif., July 26, 2017 A stem cell-based method created by University of California, Irvine scientists can selectively target and kill cancerous tissue while preventing some of the toxic side effects of chemotherapy by treating the disease in a more localized way.

Weian Zhao, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and colleagues have programmed human bone marrow stem cells to identify the unique physical properties of cancerous tissue. They added a piece of code to their engineered cells so that they can detect distinctively stiff cancerous tissue, lock into it and activate therapeutics.

Our new type of treatment only targets metastatic tissue, which enables us to avoid some of conventional chemotherapys unwanted side effects, Weian Zhao said. Steve Zylius / UCI

In a study appearing in Science Translational Medicine, the researchers report they have effectively and safely employed this stem cell-targeting system in mice to treat metastatic breast cancer that had spread to the lung. They first transplanted the engineered stem cells to let them find and settle into the tumor site where they secreted enzymes called cytosine deaminase. The mice were then administered an inactive chemotherapy called prodrug 5-flurocytosine, which was triggered into action by the tumor site enzymes.

Zhao said his team specifically focused on metastatic cancer, which comes when the disease spreads to other parts of the body. Metastatic tumors are particularly deadly and the cause of 90 percent of cancer deaths.

This is a new paradigm for cancer therapy, Zhao said. We are going in a direction that few have explored before, and we hope to offer an alternative and potentially more effective cancer treatment.

Zhao added that this stem cell-targeting approach can provide an alternative to many forms of chemotherapy, which has a number of bad side effects. While this widely used method is powerful enough to kill rapidly growing cancer cells, it also can harm healthy ones.

Our new type of treatment only targets metastatic tissue, which enables us to avoid some of conventional chemotherapys unwanted side effects, said Zhao, who is a member of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at UCI.

This published work is focused on breast cancer metastases in the lungs, he added. However, the technology will be applicable to other metastases as well, because many solid tumors have the hallmark of being stiffer than normal tissue. This is why our system is innovative and powerful, as we dont have to spend the time to identify and develop a new genetic or protein marker for every kind of cancer.

So far, the Zhao team has done preclinical animal studies to demonstrate that the treatment works and is safe, and they hope to transition to human studies in the near future. They are currently expanding to include other type of cells, including cancer tissue-sensing, engineered immune-system T cells (called CAR-T) to treat metastasizing breast and colon cancers. They also plan to transform the technology for other diseases such as fibrosis and diabetes, which result in stiffening of otherwise healthy tissue.

Along with Zhao, UCI doctoral students Linan Liu and Shirley Zhang, are co-leading authors of the study. The National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the American Cancer Society and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine provided support.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. Its located in one of the worlds safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange Countys second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit http://www.uci.edu.

Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists.

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UCI stem cell therapy attacks cancer by targeting unique tissue stiffness - UCI News

Cancer stem cells target of new grant to UCSD scientists – The San Diego Union-Tribune

By Stell Cell Research

Californias stem cell agency has awarded $5.8 million to UC San Diego researchers to develop a new variation of cancer immunotherapy.

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, or CIRM, approved the grant last week to adapt CAR T-cell technology to fight cancer stem cells. These deadliest of cancer cells have stem cell-like properties that enable them to survive treatments against them and grow profusely. One surviving cell can re-create an entire tumor.

CAR T-cell therapy, pioneered by Dr. Carl June at the University of Pennsylvania, has been used against blood cancers. While not all of those gravely ill patients have survived, a number have experienced dramatic and long-lasting remissions.

UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center physicians led by Ezra Cohen will experiment with the therapy to deal with a variety of hard-to-treat solid tumors. These include head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, triple-negative breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and ovarian cancers. The preliminary research that yielded this potential treatment was funded by the San Diego-based Immunotherapy Foundation.

Heres how CAR T-cell therapy works: Doctors genetically engineer a patients T cells, part of the immune system, to recognize a protein, called an antigen, on cancer cells so they can destroy them.

The T cells are given what is called a chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR. This is an artificial construct that can recognize the antigen on cancer cells, signaling the immune system to attack. The antigen targeted varies with different versions of the technology.

The T cells are removed from the patient, given the cancer-fighting receptor construct, grown to sufficient numbers, then re-infused into the patient. The cells act as living drugs. They tend to stick around in the patient, ready to grow and attack again if the cancer recurs.

While this has been demonstrated in blood cancers, solid tumors pose a more difficult problem, because immune cells have more limited access to the interior of these tumors.

Cohen, associate director for translational science at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, is a specialist in head and neck cancer. Among his patients: Ricki Rockett, the drummer from the band Poison.

Rockett, facing amputation of his tongue when he met Cohen, was given another kind of cancer immunotherapy, two drugs called checkpoint inhibitors that remove a molecular cloak that cancer cells use to hide from the immune system.

The treatment worked. The cancer disappeared, and Rocketts tongue was saved.

Its one year after his complete response, and hes still cancer-free, Cohen said. Rockett also went on tour with the band.

Cohen said the newly funded work with CAR T cells builds on earlier UC San Diego research that identified a receptor on some cancer cells as a promising new target. Its made in both solid tumors and blood cancers, but not in normal cells.

The receptor, tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor or ROR1, is the target of a drug now being tested by Cohens colleague Dr. Thomas Kipps in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The drug, a monoclonal antibody called cirmtuzumab, is named after CIRM, which funded the research that produced the drug.

ROR1 is produced almost exclusively in the embryonic and early fetal stage, and helps the nascent tissues migrate to the right parts of the body, Cohen said. It appears to have virtually no use after that stage. So it appears to be a safe target. Thats been a challenge to find with cancer stem cells, because their genetic activity somewhat resembles that of normal stem cells.

For obvious reasons you don't want to eliminate all the stem cells in a person's body, Cohen said.

Theres some hints ROR1 might be produced in certain precursors to B cells, which are immune cells that make antibodies, he said. Its possible to live without B cells, as in the case where drugs destroy B cells to stop B-cell lymphoma.

The new project was sparked by Kipps research indicated that ROR1 was produced in high amounts in the hard-to-treat cancers. Cohen began thinking of how this knowledge could be applied with CAR T-cell technology

Cohen said preclinical research has already been performed for the new project. In cell culture tests, CAR T cells with the ROR1 receptor kill cancer stem cells with the receptor in those difficult cancers.

Funding for that research came from the Immunotherapy Foundation, created by San Diego philanthropists Ralph and Fernanda Whitworth in 2015 after Ralph Whitworth was diagnosed with cancer. He died of the disease in September 2016.

Christina Martinez, the Immunotherapy Foundations executive director, said Whitworth met with Cohen after his diagnosis, and became personally interested in advancing the research.

It was a serendipitous encounter, but he really saw the potential for a lasting partnership in his ability to be able to make a long-term contribution to the area of immunotherapy, Martinez said. This project was just one that fell under kind of an umbrella of projects that he was interested in and funding at UCSD. So he and Fernanda seeded that initial investment.

To further improve cancer immunotherapy, the Whitworths established the Immunotherapy Foundation. Fernanda Whitworth, president and co-founder, said shes pleased with the progress.

Ralph and I liked that these projects were designed to be tightly interconnected to leverage information and allow efficient movement into the clinic, she said. Today, I am proud to see this rational, focused approach is working.

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Cancer stem cells target of new grant to UCSD scientists - The San Diego Union-Tribune

UCI researchers use stem cells as cancer-seeking missiles – 89.3 KPCC

By Stell Cell Research

A close-up of cell mutations that cause cancer. Steve Gschmeissner/Science Source

Chemotherapy is brutal a medicinal atomic bomb that destroys large swaths of cells, both cancerous and normal. And as a result, patients are often left physically devastated.

In a new study published in Science Translational Medicine, scientists at UC Irvine say they've come up with a way to use stem cells to help ameliorate those side effects. Think of it as a surgical strike with cancer-seeking missiles.

Professor Weian Zhao and his colleagues from UC Irvine modified stem cells so that they'd be attracted to enzymes released by breast cancer tumors. So, when injected into the body, the stem cells seek out the cells and bond with them.

The enzymes the scientists identified cause tissue to clump up into bundles of collagen and protein to create stiff tumors. The tumors become lumps that a patient can sometimes feel, and they act as a protective home for the cancerous cells.

The stem cells release an enzyme of their own, in turn, activating a type of chemotherapy that's been injected into the patient, which is inert until in comes in contact with the enzyme. The idea being that the chemotherapy only causes toxicity to a localized area, instead of destroying everything in its path.

"We can use a stem cells to specifically localize and produce the drugs only at the tumor site, so that we can spare the healthy tissue," said Zhao. "So, we can make the treatment more effective and less toxic to the patient."

"I think this is pretty unique in a way that it can target specific metastatic tissues with reduced toxicity overall," said Min Yu, assistant professor at the department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at USC. "So, in that sense, I think it's very novel and very unique approach."

Yu, who was not involved in the research, complimented the UCI team's methods and results, especially how effective the treatment was on the particular cancer cell that they focused on. However, she said, from patient to patient and cancer to cancer, there are a myriad of different cells responsible, making treatment notoriously difficult to generalize. The therapy isn't a sure thing.

Zhao acknowledged that his team has a while to go before it can prove that the treatment is effective in people. So far, it's only been tested in mice. As a result, FDA approval and human trials could be years away.

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UCI researchers use stem cells as cancer-seeking missiles - 89.3 KPCC

Regenerative Medicine: The Future of Medicine is Here Miami’s … – Miami’s Community Newspapers

By Adult Stem Cells

Regenerative medicine is a revolutionary approach to treating many degenerative conditions and includes a variety of different techniques including stem cell therapy. This field joins nearly all disciplines of science and holds the realistic promise of repairing damaged tissue by harnessing the bodys ability to heal itself.

Adult stem cells are found in every part of the body and their primary role is to heal and maintain the tissue in which they reside. Stem cells are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves by cell division. In addition, they have the ability to differentiate into specialized cell types. Adult stem cells can be harvested from a patients own tissue, such as adipose (fat) tissue, muscle, teeth, skin or bone marrow.

One of the most plentiful sources of stem cells in the body is the fat tissue. In fact, approximately 500 times more stem cells can be obtained from fat than bone marrow. Stem cells derived from a patients own fat are referred to as adipose-derived stem cells. The mixed population of cells that can be obtained from fat is called a stromal vascular fraction (SVF). The SVF can easily be isolated from fat tissue in approximately 30-90 minutes in a clinic setting (under local anesthesia) using a mini-lipoaspirate technique. The SVF contains a mixture of cells including adipose-derived stem cells or ADSCs and growth factors and has been depleted of the adipocyte (fat cell) population.

ADSCs are multi-potential and can differentiate into a variety of different types of tissue including but not limited to bone, cartilage, muscle, ligament, tendon and fat. These cells have also been shown to express a variety of different growth factors and signaling molecules (cytokines), which recruit other stem cells to facilitate repair and healing of the affected tissue. ADSCs are very angiogenic in nature and can promote the growth of new blood vessels.

Based on research performed in our FDA registered facilities, stem cell quality and functionality can vary greatly depending on the methods utilized to obtain the cells. It is important to utilize a product that has undergone full characterization to include safety, identity, purity and potency. We have developed a method for harvesting and isolating stem cells from fat for therapeutic use. The use of a cell population that retains the ability to function in vivo will lead to more consistent patient results with long term success.

Adipose stem cells can be obtained from the patient easily, abundantly, and with minimal patient discomfort. Clinical applications for patients can be performed in an office setting safely, legally, and ethically using autologous ADSCs. Current applications include orthopedic conditions (tendon/ligament injuries, osteoarthritis, etc.), degenerative conditions (COPD, diabetes), neurological (MS, Parkinsons, spinal cord injuries, TBI, etc.) and auto-immune (RA, Crohns, colitis, lupus).

Stem cells possess enormous regenerative potential. The potential applications are virtually limitless. Patients can receive cutting edge treatments that are safe, compliant, and effective. Our team has successfully treated over 7000 patients with very few safety concerns reported. One day, stem cell treatments will be the gold standard of care for the treatment of most degenerative diseases. We are extremely encouraged by the positive patient results we are seeing from our physician-based treatments. Our hope is that stem cell therapy will provide relief and an improved quality of life for many patients. The future of medicine is here!

For additional information on our South Miami clinic, visit http://www.stemcellcoe.com.

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Regenerative Medicine: The Future of Medicine is Here Miami's ... - Miami's Community Newspapers

Unanimous Advice To FDA: Approve Landmark CAR-T Cancer Therapy – Xconomy

By Adult Stem Cells

Xconomy National

The first ever approval of a new kind of cancer immunotherapy called CAR-T is one step closer. A 10-member panel of doctors and researchers who advise the Food and Drug Administration recommended with a rare unanimous vote that the agency approve a treatment for kids and young adults with a severe form of leukemia who have run out of other options.

The therapy would involve genetically modifying a patients T cells to kill cancer and then infusing them back into the body. The dramatic effect of the treatment, known for years as CTL-019, was never questioned at the meeting. Of 68 young people receiving it, 52 of them had an excellent response almost immediately, with their cancer disappearing within the first three months. Three-quarters of those patients remained cancer-free six months after treatment.

Explaining their vote, many advisors were effusive. Its the most exciting thing Ive seen in my lifetime, said Timothy Cripe, a blood cancer and bone marrow transplant specialist at Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, OH.

Others had high praise for the drugs marketer, Novartis (NYSE: NVS), and its plans to keep a close eye on the potentially severe side effects of CAR-T if it becomes a commercial product. Those so-called risk mitigation plans were one of the main concerns that the FDA, in documents released Monday, asked its advisors to consider.

The main side effect of CTL-019 is cytokine release syndrome, a blistering immune reaction to the drug and the detritus of dying cancer cells. It can be deadly, with spiking fevers and other symptoms, if medical staff arent properly trained for it. Novartis said it would train staffers at 30 to 35 medical centers and take other measures, as well.

At the FDAs behest, the advisory panel spent much of the day discussing long-term side effects, toothe possibility that the T cell modification could go awry, and years down the road cause secondary cancers. Its a concern that stems from the early days of gene therapy, when the genetic tweaking of patients cells with a modified virus turned on cancer-causing genes.

Novartis officials said they would follow patients for at least 15 years and investigate any cases of secondary cancers. Committee member Catherine Bollard, who runs an immunotherapy center at the Childrens Research Institute in Washington, DC, said she would like Novartis also to investigate when patients relapse with altered forms of leukemia.

The committee members said it was hard to assess the long-term risk, but in patients with no other treatment options, the near-term benefits of CAR-T therapy more than tipped the scales. You have to be a long-term survivor to experience [long-term] toxicity, said Bruce Roth of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. CTL-019 should give kids with ALL a chance for long-term survival, he said.

In a field that has plenty of pressing questions about severe, even deadly short-term side effects including brain swelling that was seen in trials of CAR-T therapies run by competing companies many observers were left wondering why the FDA highlighted the long-term risks of the CAR-T causing another cancer, perhaps years into the future. One possibility is that the agency is anticipating that CAR-T products will be developed for patients who arent at the end of the line. For example, the engineered T cells could be used as an adjuvant or additional therapy after a previous treatment has wiped out all but the last traces of cancer, said Richard Maziarz, a blood cancer specialist at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.

In those settings, the downstream effect [of triggering a secondary cancer] is conceivable, said Maziarz. (Maziarz was not part of todays advisory committee. He has treated adult patients with CTL-019 as part of a different Novartis study.)

The news today buoyed Novartis stock, which was up $1.22, or nearly 1.5 percent. Based in Switzerland, but with much of its R&D in the U.S., Novartis was the first biopharma group to dive into the CAR-T field in a big way when in 2012 it launched a collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania. Much of the early work on CTL-019, now renamed tisagenlecleucel, took place in the universitys labs and clinics.

Novartis disbanded its cell and gene therapy group last year but vowed to press on with CTL-019. Approval in pediatric ALL now seems all but assured; the FDA rarely bucks the advice of its advisory committees. Novartis is also vying to have CTL-019 approved to treat adults with the most common forms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Beyond that, the companys plans with CAR-T are unclear. Penn has a next-generation CAR-T under development, dubbed CTL-119, which is not licensed to Novartis.

Novartis also convinced the advisory committee that its complicated manufacturing process could be fast and consistent. There are many links in the production chain, which requires extracting T cells from a patient, shipping them to a lab for genetic modification, making viral vectors that insert new DNA into the T cells, then shipping the cells back to be dripped through an IV back into the patient.

Such a complex system for making personalized treatments is likely to drive up their cost, and the next big hurdle (assuming an FDA approval this fall) is to win over insurers. The complexity can also introduce other kinds of risk, such as failure of the cells to repopulate the patients immune system. I think it will be important in the commercial phase to assess both failure rates and turnaround times for CAR-T production, said Krishna Komanduri, director of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Adult Stem Cell Transplant Program at the University of Miami, who has treated patients with other experimental CAR-Ts, but not the one from Novartis. Either delays or failure of production will have clinical consequences for the highest risk patients.

Photo by Guido Van Nispen via Creative Commons 2.0 license.

Alex Lash is Xconomy's National Biotech Editor. He is based in San Francisco.

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Unanimous Advice To FDA: Approve Landmark CAR-T Cancer Therapy - Xconomy

Tampa Florida Stem Cell Clinic – Don’t Operate – Regenerate

By Stem Cell Clinic

Dont Operate Regenerate

Chronic pain in your neck, shoulder, elbow, hips, lower back, knees, ankles, and other joints is frustrating to manage. If your joint pain treatment has been a series of minor temporary fixes and, more often, disappointing failures, you may feel like surgery is your only option. The truth is, you can heal joint pain without invasive procedures, using the bodys own regenerative stem cells and Tampas Regenerative Orthopedic Institute is one of the regions most experienced specialists.

Back surgeries and joint replacements have serious risks, limited rates of success, and long recovery periods. However, our stem-cell and blood platelet procedures are available in our Tampa joint therapy center without surgical risks like general anesthesia and slow, painful recovery times, while also being available at a fraction of the cost.

Conditions We Treat

Non-surgical therapies like stem cells and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) harness the bodys healing potential through a natural process that combines growth factors and bioactive cells to repair joints and end knee pain, shoulder pain, back pain, cartilage damage, ligament damage, tendonitis, and injured discs without surgery.

See Treatment Options

The state-of-the-art science behind stem-cell joint therapy is a key area of practice for Dr. Erick Grana, one of Tampas top Physiatrist and Pain Management Specialists. Board-certified in Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation, and Electrodiagnostic Medicine, Dr. Grana has been performing spinal injections and non-surgical joint therapies for more than 12 years.

See Dr. Granas Philosophy

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Tampa Florida Stem Cell Clinic - Don't Operate - Regenerate

Dorothy Jean Kercheval Garrigan – The Messenger (subscription)

By Stem Cell Clinic

Dorothy Jean Kercheval Garrigan, known to everyone as Dotty, passed away in her home during the early morning hours of Monday, July 10, 2017. Dotty was born April 26, 1951, and was preceded in death by her parents H.C. (Kirpy) Kercheval and Mary Beth Tomblinson Kercheval.

She is survived by her husband, Mike, of 47 years; children Mollie (Greg) Robinson, John Mark (Anne) Garrigan, David (Mary) Garrigan, Katie (Schuyler) Redpath; 14 grandchildren; her mother-in-law, JoAnn Garrigan Minton; siblings Howard Kercheval, Woody (Kea) Kercheval, Lib (Brad) Locke and Sam (Cindy) Kercheval; and one uncle, Jack Kercheval.

Dotty had a contagious spirit and a warm smile for everyone she encountered. Her favorite flower was the sunflower, and she brought sunshine into every situation she entered.

A service honoring her life will be at noon Thursday with a time of fellowship beginning at 10 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Madisonville.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the following: Door of Hope Blessing Closet, First Presbyterian Church Water to the World Mission, or Baptist Health Hospice.

The family expresses its deepest gratitude to the physicians, nurses, and staffs of the Merle Mahr Cancer Center, Baptist Health Madisonville, and the Vanderbilt-Ingram Stem-Cell Clinic; all of whom encouraged and treated her with the greatest of care and respect.

Thanks to the many friends who have shown love in ways too numerous to mention to our family during the past three years.

Tomblinson Funeral Home Sebree Chapel is handling the arrangements. Condolences may be made at tomblinsonfuneralhome.com.

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Dorothy Jean Kercheval Garrigan - The Messenger (subscription)

Broomfield’s Regenexx in merger with Iowa company – Longmont Times-Call

By Stem Cell Clinics

Dr. John Schultz gives an injection of bone marrow derived stem cells into the knee of patient Steve Brink from Washington state at the Regenexx offices in Broomfield June 12. (Paul Aiken / Staff Photographer)

Broomfield's Regenexx, a stem cell treatment network, has completed its merger with Des Moines, Iowa-based Harbor View Medical.

The company corporate headquarters will move to Des Moines as a result, with the company's medical headquarters remaining in Broomfield, according to spokeswoman Caroline Patterson.

Patterson said there would be no layoffs in Broomfield as a result of the merger.

Regenexx co-founder, Dr. Christopher Centeno, a pioneer in using stem cells to treat orthopedic injuries, will maintain his role as chief medical officer and Jason Hellickson will become CEO.

Regenexx treatments include injection of a patient's own stem cells and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to encourage healing of tendons, joints and muscles.

"Most of what we currently call orthopedic surgery will, in the next 10-20 years, be in the dust bin of history," Centeno told the Daily Camera last month. "Thirty years from now, cutting people open and drilling holes will be considered barbaric."

Despite advances in research, critics say the safety and effectiveness of these regenerative treatments is largely unregulated and remains poorly understood.

A study by Mayo Clinic, whose results were published last year, noted that patients in a blind study, who had arthritis in both knees, saw benefits from the treatment, but that it wasn't clear why. Just one knee had actually been injected with the stem cells.

The stem cell treatments have generated controversy among some medical professionals because they cost thousands of dollars and have not been widely studied. Last year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a series of scientific meetings examining how best to regulate and ensure the safety and efficacy of this approach.

The Mayo Clinic study, overseen by the FDA, concluded that the procedure it studied was safe to undergo, but it was not ready to recommend it for "routine arthritis care."

Still the use of stem cell treatments in everything from veterinary clinics to dermatology orthopedic practices is growing. Founded in 2005, Regenexx lists 48 clinics worldwide, including a new facility it opened in Mumbai this month.

Jerd Smith: 303-473-1332, smithj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/jerd_smith

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Broomfield's Regenexx in merger with Iowa company - Longmont Times-Call

Head and Neck Cancer Therapeutics Market is Expected to Generate Huge Profits by 2024 – MilTech

By Gene Therapy Clinics

Cancers of squamous cells present in the linings of larynx, throat, nose, salivary glands, lips, mouth are collectively called as head and neck cancers. According to World Health Organization (WHO), globally more than 550,000 new cases of head and neck cancer are diagnosed per year with around 300,000 deaths annually. Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer and accounts for 56% of all cancers. Treatment of head and neck cancer presents a significant challenge to physicians as the choice of treatment varies from patient to patient and location of the tumor. Head and neck cancers ate often treated with surgery, but the complexity of facial structures and functions limits the surgical treatments. Surgery for head and neck cancer changes some of the functions such as chewing, swallowing, talking, etc.

Get access to full summary @: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/head-an

Surgical therapy in combination with radiation therapy is the most preferred treatment regime by physicians. However, currently available treatment options for head and neck cancer do not result in improvement in survival rate, and head and neck cancer survival rate has decreased from 80% to 50%in last ten years. Recent developments in advanced chemotherapy and radiotherapy allow preserving some of the functions of the face. The introduction of targeted molecular therapy such as gene therapy, monoclonal antibodies, antibody drug conjugates, etc. has opened up huge potential for the growth of head and neck cancer therapeutics market.

Growing incidence of head and neck cancer and demand for cost-effective treatment options are the factors driving the growth of global head and neck cancer therapeutic market. According to Globocan 2012, globally, 521,983 new cases of the lip, oral cavity, and larynx cancer were diagnosed in 2012. Advancements in technology and development of new targeted molecules are believed to play the crucial role in the growth of global head and neck cancer therapeutics market over the forecast period.

The global market for anti-neoplastic agents is segmented on basis of treatment type, disease indication, end user and geography. Based on treatment type, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market has been segmented as follow: Chemotherapy, Radiation Therapy, External Radiation Therapy, Internal Radiation Therapy, Surgery, Targeted Therapy. Based on disease indication, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market has been segmented as follow: Laryngeal Cancer, Lip and Oral Cavity Cancer, Nasopharyngeal Cancer, Oropharyngeal Cancer, Salivary Gland Cancer, Others. Based on end user, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market has been segmented as follow: Hospitals, Specialty Clinics, Ambulatory Surgical Centers.

A sample of this report is available upon request @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11734

Increasing smoking rate, tobacco consumption and incidence of HPV-caused cancers are the factors primarily responsible for growing prevalence of head and neck cancers such as oral cavity cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, etc. Based on treatment type, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market is classified as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. Surgery is expected to lead the global market for head and neck cancer therapeutics over the forecast period as it is the choice of therapy by physicians.

Radiation therapy is used to prevent the recurrence of cancer and is expected to contribute second largest share in the global head and neck cancer therapeutics market. Chemotherapy is used as an adjunct to other therapies and thus hold little share in global head and neck cancer therapeutics market.

Based on disease indication, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market has been segmented into laryngeal cancer, lip and oral cavity cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, salivary gland cancer and others. Lip and oral cavity cancer indication type segment is expected to contribute the highest share in the global market for head and neck cancer therapeutics market owing to the high global prevalence of cancer. GLOBOCAN 2012 reports the highest prevalence of 3.1% in 2012 affecting 467,157 people affected by lip and oral cancer globally.

Based on the end user, the global head and neck cancer therapeutics market has been segmented into hospitals, specialty clinics, and ambulatory surgical centers. Hospital end user segment is anticipated to contribute the maximum share among end users.

Based on the regional presence, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market is segmented into five key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. North America will continue to dominate the global head and neck cancer therapeutics market for due to high prevalence HPV-induced cancers and high smoking rate. Europe is expected to hold second largest market share in global head and neck cancer therapeutics market.

To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/11734

Some of the major players operating in the global head and neck cancer therapeutics market are AbbVie Inc., Acceleron Pharma, Inc., AB Science SA, AstraZeneca Plc., Astellas Pharma Inc., Bayer AG, Boston Biomedical, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and others.

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Head and Neck Cancer Therapeutics Market is Expected to Generate Huge Profits by 2024 - MilTech

Stem Cells Guided by Electric Fields May Offer New Therapies for … – Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release)

By Stem Cell Medicine

Scientists at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine's Institute for Regenerative Cures report that electric fields can be used to guide neural stem cells transplanted into the brain toward a specific location. Their study (Electrical Guidance of Human Stem Cells in the Rat Brain), which appears in Stem Cell Reports, opens the door for potentially guiding stem cells to repair brain damage.

we report a strategy that mobilizes and guides migration of stem cells in the brain invivo. We developed a safe stimulation paradigm to deliver directional currents in the brain, write the investigators. Tracking cells expressing GFP [green fluorescent protein] demonstrated electrical mobilization and guidance of migration of human neural stem cells, even against co-existing intrinsic cues in the rostral migration stream.

Min Zhao, M.D., Ph.D., carries out research on how electric fields can guide wound healing. Damaged tissues generate weak electric fields, and Zhao's research has shown how these electric fields can attract cells into wounds to heal them.

"One unmet need in regenerative medicine is how to effectively and safely mobilize and guide stem cells to migrate to lesion sites for repair," Dr. Zhao said. "Inefficient migration of those cells to lesions is a significant roadblock to developing effective clinical applications."

Natural neural stem cells are found deep in the brain, in the subventricular zone and hippocampus. To repair damage to the cortex, they have to migrate some distance, especially in the large human brain. Transplanted stem cells might also have to migrate some way to find an area of damage.

Dr. Zhao, and his colleague, Junfeng Feng, M.D., a neurosurgeon at Ren Ji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Shanghai Institute of Head Trauma, developed a model of stem cell transplants in rats. They placed human neural stem cells in the rostral migration stream, which is a pathway in the rat brain that carries cells toward the olfactory bulb. Cells move along this pathway, partly carried by the flow of cerebrospinal fluid and partly guided by chemical signals.

By applying an electric field within the rat's brain, the scientists found that they could get the transplanted stem cells to swim upstream against the fluid flow and natural cues and head for other locations within the brain.

The transplanted stem cells were still in their new locations weeks or months after treatment.

"Electrical mobilization and guidance of stem cells in the brain therefore provides a potential approach to facilitate stem cell therapies for brain diseases, stroke, and injuries," noted Dr. Zhao.

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Stem Cells Guided by Electric Fields May Offer New Therapies for ... - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release)

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