A discovery by a team of University of Toronto bioengineers will boost the treatment of adults with blood-borne cancers through the use of umbilical cord blood. "Normally, umbilical cord blood contains only enough (blood stem cells) to treat children," said Peter Zandstra, the head researcher at U of T's Stem Cell Bioengineering Lab. "If we can start to grow blood stem cells from umbilical cord blood, we can get five times more of the cells and ... we'll be able to treat adult diseases as well." Blood stem cells are primarily used to treat cancers such as leukemia, but by deriving the cells from umbilical cords - a previously unused source because they yield such low counts - scientists can dramatically broaden their therapeutic use. Umbilical cord blood can be used in place of bone marrow for transplants into patients with blood cancers.
In any culture, blood stem cells are very rare, but Zandstra's team found a way to remove the unwanted cells to create an environment where the stem cells could thrive. "It's been very hard to grow blood stem cells at all," he said in a release. "We've tried to understand how these cells talk to each other, and by controlling that, trying to get the ones we want to grow better." The team found that by removing the unwanted "linage-positive cells," which secrete molecules inhibiting stem-cell growth, they could create an environment in which stem cells would thrive.
A "bioreactor" developed by the scientists allowed the stem cells to grow in a closed and controlled environment, away from contaminants. For decades, since the U of T-led discovery of stem cells in 1961, scientists around the world have been searching for ways to broaden the number of stem cells harvested from umbilical cord blood. "We have this source of cells - umbilical cord blood - that is normally thrown away. Now that we start to grow these cells, perhaps a vast majority of patients with blood cancers who are adults will benefit." The team's findings are published in the October issue of Experimental Hematology.
Zandstra hopes to move on to clinical trials within a year. The team's findings are published in the October issue of Experimental Hematology. Zandstra hopes to move on to clinical trials within a year.
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