New research: Turning cancer cells into stem cells, helping to make medicines

Scientists at Hokkaido University, Japan have developed a hydrogel that turns cancer cells in reverse into cancer stem cells in 24 hours. This result opens up the opportunity to make the drug 'eradicate' cancer.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in the world with more than 8.6 million people dying each year. Although treatments are constantly improving, the 5-year survival rate of end-stage patients is very low.

One of the reasons is that cancerous tissue contains cancerous stem cells that cause resistance to chemotherapy and radiation. These stem cells can circulate in the bloodstream and cause cancer metastasis. Scientists have long been geared towards an attack on cancer stem cells, but there are a number of hurdles.

"Cancer stem cells are a major target for anticancer drugs but it is difficult to identify them because the number of stem cells is too small in the cancerous tissues. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of the cells." Cancer radicals are essential to developing more effective cancer therapies, "explained Professor Shinya Tanaka at the Faculty of Medicine at Hokkaido University.

Scientists at Hokkaido University and the National Cancer Research Institute of Japan have successfully developed a hydrogel that "transforms" cancer cells back into cancerous stem cells, SciTechDaily said. Within 24 hours with 6 types of cancer: brain, lung, uterus, colon, bladder and bone.

The new type of hydrogel, called DN gel, can quickly reprogram cancer cells to differentiate into stem cells. Thanks to this invention, scientists are able to overcome the problem of too few stem cells hiding in cancerous tissues. It opens up opportunities for making cancer stem cell killers and "personalized" drugs.

The research results were reported in the scientific journal Nature Biomedical Engineering on March 29.