Follow Canada Investment Immigration, follow Canadian Technology: Scientists at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada, have discovered a new method to treat colon cancer by eliminating the genes that drive self-renewal in stem cells, which are the root cause of colon cancer, treatment resistance, and disease recurrence.
Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Western countries. Principal investigator Dr. John Dick stated that this research finding represents the first step toward applying cancer stem cell biology in clinical settings to control cancer cell growth and advance the development of long-lasting treatments.
In preclinical experiments, the research team replicated human colon cancer in mice to determine whether specifically targeting stem cells has clinical relevance. Researchers first identified the BMI-1 gene as a key regulator of colon cancer stem cells and a driver of self-renewal, proliferation, and cell survival cycles. Next, they successfully blocked BMI-1 using existing small-molecule inhibitors, thereby demonstrating the clinical relevance of this approach.
Lead author Dr. Antonija Kreso stated that inhibiting self-renewal regulators is an effective way to control tumor growth, providing strong evidence for the clinical relevance of stem cell self-renewal as a biological process for targeted therapy. Dr. Dick explained that by blocking the BMI-1 pathway, stem cells are unable to self-renew, causing long-term, irreversible damage to tumor growth. In other words, the cancer is permanently shut down.
Co-author of the study, surgeon and scientist Dr. Catherine O'Brien, said that this research outlines a viable approach for targeted therapy of colon cancer, as approximately 65% of colon cancer patients have the BMI-1 biomarker, making its clinical application prospects exciting.
Turning off a gene to cure cancer—this is nothing short of a legendary panacea. Tumor cells are inextricably linked to stem cells, and by exploring the field of stem cells, scientists have inadvertently discovered a shortcut to clearing cancer cells. Of course, a gene may be both harmful and beneficial, and the side effects of turning it off remain unknown. However, regardless, the prospects for this type of targeted therapy are encouraging. Perhaps in the future, similar breakthroughs will be developed for the treatment of cancers more common among Eastern populations, such as liver and stomach cancer.
