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Cancer Stem Cell Vaccine in Development Shows Antitumor Effect
ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2012) — Scientists may have discovered a new paradigm for immunotherapy against cancer by priming antibodies and T cells with cancer stem cells, according to a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
"This is a major breakthrough in immunotherapy research because we were able to use purified cancer stem cells to generate a vaccine, which strengthened the potency of antibodies and T cells that selectively targeted cancer stem cells," said Qiao Li, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in the department of surgery at the University of Michigan.
Cancer stem cells are tumor cells that remain present, and ultimately resistant, after chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Scientists disagree on whether these cells have unique properties, but those who support the uniqueness idea have argued that these cells regenerate the tumors that lead to relapse.
Despite the similar name, cancer stem cells are distinct from embryonic stem cells, and the two avenues of research are separate.
For the current study, Li and colleagues extracted cancer stem cells from two immunocompetent mouse models and used them to prepare the vaccine.
"We found that these enriched cancer stem cells were immunogenic and far more effective as an antigen source compared with the unselected tumor cells normally used in previous immunotherapy trials," said Li. "The mechanistic investigations found that when antibodies were primed with cancer stem cells, they were capable of targeting cancer stem cells and conferring antitumor immunity."
The researchers also found that cytotoxic T lymphocytes harvested from cancer stem cell-vaccinated hosts were capable of killing cancer stem cells in vitro.

Reflection:
Upon reading this article, I can say that it is indeed very promising especially in the field of science and in what we consider as life’s greatest battle – cancer. As what we initially knew, cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths worldwide and no cure has guaranteed recovery from the said disease. However, this innovation has shown that the possibility of fending off cancer is at hand.
As what is stated in this article, this can replace the use of chemotherapy and that there’s an increased chance for one affected of cancer to be cured without compromising the body’s own antibodies and healthy cells, unlike that of chemotherapy wherein the potency of the drugs used threaten or even kill the body’s antibodies and healthy cells.
With further studies and series of tests, I hope that this will be made available especially to people who are affected with cancer worldwide, especially in third world countries where technology is not as advanced as what first world countries have. Not only that but also to help aid the affected individuals get the medication they needed.

References:
American Association for Cancer Research (2012, April 2). Cancer stem cell vaccine in development shows antitumor effect. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 23, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2012/04/120402094150.htm
Web address: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/ 120402094150.htm
Journal Reference: 1. N. Ning, Q. Pan, F. Zheng, S. Teitz-Tennenbaum, M. Egenti, J. Yet, M. Li, C. Ginestier, M. S. Wicha, J. S. Moyer, M. E. P. Prince, Y. Xu, X.-L. Zhang, S. Huang, A. E. Chang, Q. Li. Cancer Stem Cell Vaccination Confers Significant Antitumor Immunity. Cancer Research, 2012; 72 (7): 1853 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-11-1400