Tumor-homing Stem Cell Therapy for Brain Cancer

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Emerging evidence has demonstrated that genetically engineered stem cells have unique tumor-homing capacity that allows them to deliver anticancer gene products directly into local and invasive glioblastoma foci. New clinical trials have been launched based on the strength of promising preclinical studies. As such, the focus of the present review is to illustrate how stem cells can be used for the treatment of glioblastoma, various features of the stem cell that make them ideal drug delivery vehicles, modes of action, and recent clinical applications.

Recent Findings

Increasingly, mesenchymal, and neural stem cells are being loaded with numerous therapeutic agents and tested in preclinical studies. Such results have provided an encouraging framework with which to design studies testing stem cells in human patients. Clinical trials using allogeneic neural stem cells as cell carriers for the treatment of glioblastoma are in progress, with the first trial completed very recently. Autologous induced neural stem cells, on the other hand, hold promise to evade the patient's immune system more productively, increasing cell persistence, and therapeutic efficacy, but have yet to be tested in the clinical setting.

Summary

High grade glioma is a devastating malignancy with short life expectancy after surgical resection and even more discouraging expectations upon its recurrence, despite recent improvements in treatment options and close surveillance under the current standard of care. Efforts to ameliorate current therapeutic approaches are constantly being investigated. Stem cells have the natural ability to home to tumors and have been successfully genetically modified to deliver therapeutics, killing cancer cells. The first completed clinical trial demonstrated initial safety and identified the translational roadblocks that still need to be tackled.

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