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Cells Predict Cancer Spread in Children

Posted on: Friday, 17 July 2009, 08:14 CDT

Endothelial progenitor cells may play a role in the start and progression of metastatic disease in children with cancer, according to a recent study.

Circulating endothelial cells are rare cells that shed from the lining of blood vessels after vascular damage. Circulating endothelial cells and their precursors, endothelial progenitor cells, have been described in previous studies, but mainly in the context of cardiovascular disease.

"This is the first study to measure circulating endothelial cells and endothelial progenitor cells in children with cancer, which can provide insight as to the biology of their tumor vessels," researcher Françoise Farace, Ph.D., director of the department of biology of circulating cells in the translational research laboratory, Institut Gustave Roussy, France, was quoted as saying.

"Not only were these cells found in higher levels in patients compared to healthy volunteers,” Farace said, “but endothelial progenitor cells were found in strikingly higher amounts in patients with metastatic disease."

Preclinical studies have shown these cells play a pivotal role in the initiation of metastasis or the spread of disease in mice; however, until now, their association with metastatic spread has not been demonstrated in humans.

"Understanding the process of tumor vessel development in pediatric cancers is of utmost importance, as pediatric patients are in dire need of new treatment strategies including those which could target tumor vessels," researcher Melissa Taylor, M.D., pediatrician and doctoral student in the translational research laboratory, Institut Gustave Roussy, France, was quoted as saying.

"This study is very interesting. It demonstrated that these rare cells detected in the blood of adult cancer patients are also important in pediatric cancers," James L. Abbruzzese, M.D., F.A.C.P., chairman of the department of gastrointestinal medical oncology, M.G. and Lillie A. Johnson chair for cancer treatment and research and professor of medicine at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center was quoted as saying. He is also a deputy editor of Clinical Cancer Research.

"Understanding these vascular precursor cells and seeing the changes over time may represent a real strategy for helping to identify drugs that might work in the pediatric population," Abbruzzese said. "Insights as to which patients are likely to develop metastases may help us to identify a subset of patients that require more extensive therapy."

SOURCE: Clinical Cancer Research, July 15, 2009

Source: Ivanhoe

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