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Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Prospects for Cancer Therapy

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Emerging Trends in Cell and Gene Therapy

Abstract

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity throughout the world. To a significant extent, current conventional cancer therapies are symptomatic and passive in nature. The major obstacle for the development of effective cancer therapy is believed to be the lack of sufficient specificity. Since the discovery of tumor-oriented homing capacity of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), the application of specific anticancer gene-engineered MSCs has held great potential for cancer therapies. The MSC-based multiple-targeted anticancer strategy is based on MSCs’ capacity of tumor-directed migration and incorporation and in situ expression of tumor-specific anticancer genes. Aimed at translating the benchwork to meaningful clinical applications, we will describe MSCs’ tumor tropism and their use as therapeutic vehicles, the multiple-targeted anticancer potential of engineered MSCs and a personalized strategy for cancer therapy.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation and Guangxi Ministry of Science and Technology. The authors are grateful to Crystal Robertson for her assistance in preparing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, 400-828 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1L8, Canada

    Long-Jun Dai Ph.D. & Garth L. Warnock

  2. Department of Organ Transplantation, Institute of Transplant Medicine, 303 Hospital of PLA, Nanning, China

    Xu-Yong Sun

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, China

    Jie Luo

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  1. Long-Jun Dai Ph.D.
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  2. Xu-Yong Sun
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  3. Jie Luo
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  4. Garth L. Warnock
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Correspondence to Long-Jun Dai Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pharmaceutical Sciences, Douglas Hall 206, Chicago State University, S. King Drive 9501, Chicago, 60628, Illinois, USA

    Michael K. Danquah

  2. Health Science Center, Dept. Pharmaceutical &, University of Tennessee, S. Manassas 19, Memphis, 38103, Tennessee, USA

    Ram I. Mahato

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Dai, LJ., Sun, XY., Luo, J., Warnock, G.L. (2013). Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Prospects for Cancer Therapy. In: Danquah, M., Mahato, R. (eds) Emerging Trends in Cell and Gene Therapy. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-417-3_12

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