Category Archives: New York Stem Cells

NEW YORK and PETACH TIKVAH, Israel, Jan. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: BCLI), a leading developer of adult stem cell technologies for neurodegenerative diseases, today announced positive final results from its phase 2a clinical trial of NurOwn in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, which enrolled 14 subjects at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

The study achieved its primary endpoint in demonstrating that NurOwn is safe and well-tolerated at doses up to 2 million cells per kilogram administered intrathecally (IT) and 48 million cells administered intramuscularly (IM).

Importantly, nearly all subjects in this study experienced clinical benefit from treatment with NurOwn. Of the 12 subjects with three or more months of follow-up, 92% experienced an improvement in the rate disease progression for the three month period after administration of NurOwn, as measured by ALS Functional Rating Score-Revised (ALSFRS) or forced vital capacity (FVC). Fifty percent had an improvement in the slope of the ALSFRS score, and 67% had an improvement in the slope of the percent-predicted FVC.

NurOwn slowed the progression of ALS in this study, as indicated by an improving slope of both the mean ALSFRS and mean FVC curves after therapy. On ALSFRS, NurOwn slowed the rate of progression by 45%, from 1.41 points per month during the run-in period to 0.78 points per month for the three months following treatment, and by 57% to 0.60 per month for the six months following treatment. NurOwn had a similarly strong effect on the progressive loss of lung function the rate of decline in percent-predicted FVC was reduced by 73%, from an average of 2.60% per month during the run-in period to just 0.70% per month for the three months after treatment, and by 67% to 0.86% per month for the six months following treatment.

"We are gratified to have the final data from this study and are very encouraged by the results," commented BrainStorm's CEO Tony Fiorino, MD, PhD. "This study not only extends our earlier phase 1/2 findings regarding the safety of NurOwn, but also provide a consistent and highly promising picture of NurOwn's efficacy. In particular, I would highlight that we observed not only a highly meaningful reduction in ALS progression on mean ALSFRS and FVC, but we saw subjects with prolonged stabilization and even improvements in function, and all this was achieved with just a single dose of NurOwn. We are excited to proceed to a multi-dose study to see if these positive results can be amplified and extended by administering repeated doses."

Professor Dimitious Karussis of Hadassah Medical Center and the principal investigator of the trial, noted "This is the second study of NurOwn I have completed in ALS patients, and my excitement for these cells as a possible treatment for ALS continues to grow. I am impressed by the consistency of benefit of IT administration we have seen in both studies, and we saw in this study that almost every subject experienced clinical benefit, either on ALSFRS, FVC or both measures. I believe that if future studies demonstrate a similar magnitude of benefit, NurOwn will become an important treatment option for patients suffering from ALS."

About the Phase 2a Study

This was a single-arm, dose escalating study of NurOwn (also referred to as MSC-NTF cells) in ALS (see https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01777646 for more study details). The study enrolled 14 early-stage ALS patients into three ascending dose cohorts; each subject received NurOwn cells via IT and IM administration after a three month run-in period, and was then followed for six additional months after treatment. Subjects in this study were assessed at monthly visits by ALSFRS score and for respiratory function by FVC. The rate of decline for these measures was determined by calculating the slope of the linear regression line for the run-in period, the three month follow-up period, and the six month follow-up period.

Conference Call Information

Monday, January 5, 2015 at 8:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

Read more from the original source:
BrainStorm Announces Final Analysis of Phase 2a ALS Study Showing Nearly All Subjects Experienced Clinical Benefit ...

A cell programming technique developed at the Weizmann Institute turns them into the earliest precursors of sperm and ova

IMAGE:These are clusters of human embryonic stem cells that were differentiated to an early germ cell (PGC) state (colored cells). Each color reveals the expression of a different gene. (l-r)... view more

Credit: Weizmann Institute of Science

Groups at the Weizmann Institute of Science and Cambridge University have jointly managed the feat of turning back the clock on human cells to create primordial germ cells - the embryonic cells that give rise to sperm and ova - in the lab. This is the first time that human cells have been programmed into this early developmental stage. The results of their study, which were published today in Cell, could help provide answers as to the causes of fertility problems, yield insight into the earliest stages of embryonic development and potentially, in the future, enable the development of new kinds of reproductive technology.

"Researchers have been attempting to create human primordial germ cells (PGCs) in the petri dish for years," says Dr. Jacob Hanna of the Institute's Molecular Genetics Department, who led the study together with research student Leehee Weinberger. PGCs arise within the early weeks of embryonic growth, as the embryonic stem cells in the fertilized egg begin to differentiate into the very basic cell types. Once these primordial cells become "specified," they continue developing toward precursor sperm cells or ova "pretty much on autopilot," says Hanna. The idea of creating these cells in the lab took off with the 2006 invention of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells - adult cells that are "reprogrammed" to look and act like embryonic stem cells, which can then differentiate into any cell type. Thus several years ago, when researchers in Japan created mouse iPS cells and then got them to differentiate into PGCs, scientists immediately set about trying to replicate the achievement in human cells. But until now, none had been successful.

Previous research in Hanna's lab pointed to new methods that could take human cells to the PGC state. That research had focused on the question of how human iPS cells and mouse embryonic cells differ: The mouse embryonic cells are easily kept in their stem cell state in the lab, while human iPS cells that have been reprogrammed - a technique that involves the insertion of four genes - have a strong drive to differentiate, and they often retain traces of "priming." Hanna and his group then created a method for tuning down the genetic pathway for differentiation, thus creating a new type of iPS cell that they dubbed "nave cells." These nave cells appeared to rejuvenate iPS cells one step further, closer to the original embryonic state from which they can truly differentiate into any cell type. Since these nave cells are more similar to their mouse counterparts, Hanna and his group thought they could be coaxed to differentiate into primordial germ cells.

Working with nave human embryonic stem and iPS cells, and applying the techniques that had been successful in the mouse cell experiments, the research team managed to produce cells that, in both cases, appeared to be identical to human PGCs. Together with the lab group of Prof. Azim Surani of Cambridge University, the scientists further tested and refined the method jointly in both labs. By adding a glowing red fluorescent marker to the genes for PGCs, they were able to gauge how many of the cells had been programmed. Their results showed that quite a high rate - up to 40% - had become PGCs; this quantity enables easy analysis.

Hanna points out that PGCs are only the first step in creating human sperm and ova. A number of hurdles remain before labs will be able to complete the chain of events that move an adult cell through the cycle of embryonic stem cell and around to sperm or ova. For one, at some point in the process, these cells must learn to perform the neat trick of dividing their DNA in half before they can become viable reproductive cells. Still, he is confident that those hurdles will one day be overcome, raising the possibility, for example, of enabling women who have undergone chemotherapy or premature menopause to conceive.

In the meantime, the study has already yielded some interesting results that may have significant implications for further research on PGCs and possibly other early embryonic cells. The team managed to trace part of the genetic chain of events that directs a stem cell to differentiate into a primordial germ cell, and they discovered a master gene, Sox17, that regulates the process in humans, but not in mice. Because this gene network is quite different from the one that had been identified in mice, the researchers suspect that more than a few surprises may await scientists who study the process in humans.

Hanna: "Having the ability to create human PGCs in the petri dish will enable us to investigate the process of differentiation on the molecular level. For example, we found that only 'fresh' nave cells can become PGCs; but after a week in conventional growth conditions they lose this capability once again. We want to know why this is. What is it about human stem cell states that makes them more or less competent? And what exactly drives the process of differentiation once a cell has been reprogrammed to its more nave state? It is the answers to these basic questions that will, ultimately, advance iPS cell technology to the point of medical use."

Read more from the original source:
Human primordial cells created in the lab

SATURDAY, Dec. 6, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- In a small new trial, a form of treatment based on the body's immune system appears to be helping patients with Hodgkin lymphoma for whom other treatments had failed.

Hodgkin lymphoma -- a cancer of white blood cells called lymphocytes -- is one of the most common cancers in children and young adults in the United States, with about 10,000 new cases occurring each year. While current therapies are often successful in treating the disease, up to one-fourth of patients eventually suffer a relapse, experts say.

The disease "kills more than 1,000 people in the U.S. each year and is one of the rare cancers more common in young adults than in older patients," said one expert, Dr. Joshua Brody, director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City.

"Many people may know of actor Michael C. Hall, of television's 'Dexter,' who battled the disease in 2010," said Brody, who was not involved in the new study.

He stressed that Hodgkin lymphoma is often responsive to chemotherapy. However, in the minority of patients who do not respond to standard treatment, the disease is typically considered incurable and fatal.

The new study involved 23 such patients. According to researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, more than one-third of the patients had tried -- and ultimately failed -- at least six lines of treatment. Four-fifths of the patients had also undergone stem cell transplant therapy in hopes of curing their disease, but also failed.

The new phase 1 trial involved a drug called nivolumab, a therapy that frees the immune system to attack cancer cells.

"Nivolumab is a novel therapy which blocks the protein PD-1 -- a 'brake pedal' of certain immune cells," Brody explained. "This allows patients' immune systems to attack their own cancer -- an old concept which has shown unprecedented results in recent years."

Following treatment, four of the patients had no detectable tumor left and the tumors in 16 other patients had shrunk to less than half of their original size, the researchers said. Six months after treatment, 86 percent of patients were alive and continued to show response to the therapy. One year after treatment, most of the patients continued to do well.

About 20 percent of the patients had serious treatment-related side effects, but none of them were life-threatening, the study's authors said.

Original post:
Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment Shows Promise in Small Trial

In a small new trial, a form of treatment based on the body's immune system appears to be helping patients with Hodgkin lymphoma for whom other treatments had failed.

Hodgkin lymphoma -- a cancer of white blood cells called lymphocytes -- is one of the most common cancers in children and young adults in the United States, with about 10,000 new cases occurring each year. While current therapies are often successful in treating the disease, up to one-fourth of patients eventually suffer a relapse, experts say.

The disease "kills more than 1,000 people in the U.S. each year and is one of the rare cancers more common in young adults than in older patients," said one expert, Dr. Joshua Brody, director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City.

"Many people may know of actor Michael C. Hall, of television's 'Dexter,' who battled the disease in 2010," said Brody, who was not involved in the new study.

He stressed that Hodgkin lymphoma is often responsive to chemotherapy. However, in the minority of patients who do not respond to standard treatment, the disease is typically considered incurable and fatal.

The new study involved 23 such patients. According to researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, more than one-third of the patients had tried -- and ultimately failed -- at least six lines of treatment. Four-fifths of the patients had also undergone stem cell transplant therapy in hopes of curing their disease, but also failed.

The new phase 1 trial involved a drug called nivolumab, a therapy that frees the immune system to attack cancer cells.

"Nivolumab is a novel therapy which blocks the protein PD-1 -- a 'brake pedal' of certain immune cells," Brody explained. "This allows patients' immune systems to attack their own cancer -- an old concept which has shown unprecedented results in recent years."

Following treatment, four of the patients had no detectable tumor left and the tumors in 16 other patients had shrunk to less than half of their original size, the researchers said. Six months after treatment, 86 percent of patients were alive and continued to show response to the therapy. One year after treatment, most of the patients continued to do well.

About 20 percent of the patients had serious treatment-related side effects, but none of them were life-threatening, the study's authors said.

View original post here:
"Breakthrough" drug shows promise for Hodgkin lymphoma

In a small new trial, a form of treatment based on the body's immune system appears to be helping patients with Hodgkin lymphoma for whom other treatments had failed.

Hodgkin lymphoma -- a cancer of white blood cells called lymphocytes -- is one of the most common cancers in children and young adults in the United States, with about 10,000 new cases occurring each year. While current therapies are often successful in treating the disease, up to one-fourth of patients eventually suffer a relapse, experts say.

The disease "kills more than 1,000 people in the U.S. each year and is one of the rare cancers more common in young adults than in older patients," said one expert, Dr. Joshua Brody, director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City.

"Many people may know of actor Michael C. Hall, of television's 'Dexter,' who battled the disease in 2010," said Brody, who was not involved in the new study.

He stressed that Hodgkin lymphoma is often responsive to chemotherapy. However, in the minority of patients who do not respond to standard treatment, the disease is typically considered incurable and fatal.

The new study involved 23 such patients. According to researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, more than one-third of the patients had tried -- and ultimately failed -- at least six lines of treatment. Four-fifths of the patients had also undergone stem cell transplant therapy in hopes of curing their disease, but also failed.

The new phase 1 trial involved a drug called nivolumab, a therapy that frees the immune system to attack cancer cells.

"Nivolumab is a novel therapy which blocks the protein PD-1 -- a 'brake pedal' of certain immune cells," Brody explained. "This allows patients' immune systems to attack their own cancer -- an old concept which has shown unprecedented results in recent years."

Following treatment, four of the patients had no detectable tumor left and the tumors in 16 other patients had shrunk to less than half of their original size, the researchers said. Six months after treatment, 86 percent of patients were alive and continued to show response to the therapy. One year after treatment, most of the patients continued to do well.

About 20 percent of the patients had serious treatment-related side effects, but none of them were life-threatening, the study's authors said.

Read more:
"Breakthrough" drug tested for Hodgkin lymphoma

CBS New York (con't)

Affordable Care Act Updates: CBSNewYork.com/ACA

Health News & Information: CBSNewYork.com/Health

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) A New York woman battling leukemia was especially grateful this Thanksgiving, as she credited the kindness of a total stranger with helping save her life.

They found the donor, and it was just basically like a weight lifted off my shoulders, said Jeanine Walsh, 38.

As CBS2s Dr. Max Gomez reported Thursday, Walsh the mother of two young children has been battling leukemia for the second time in two years.

I was in total and complete shock, she said.

No members of Walshs family were a match for her, but a willing donor was found through the national registry. Peripheral stem cells were collected from the donor, located in the Western U.S., earlier this week.

The process took just a few hours.

We attach the patient, that is the donor, to a machine. The machine takes blood form the donor, filters out the stem cells if you will, and returns the rest of the blood to the donor, said Dr. Michael Schuster, director of stem cell transplantation at Stony Brook University Hospital.

See the original post here:
Stranger Donates Stem Cells In Hopes Of Curing New York Woman With Leukemia

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise NEW YORK November 20, 2014 The National Eye Institute (NEI), a division of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai a five-year grant that will support an effort to re-create a patients ocular stem cells and restore vision in those blinded by corneal disease.

About six million people worldwide have been blinded by burns, trauma, infection, genetic diseases, and chronic inflammation that result in corneal stem cell death and corneal scarring. There are currently no treatments for related vision loss that are effective over the long term. Corneal stem cell transplantation is an option in the short term, but availability of donor corneas is limited, and patients must take medications that suppress their immune systems for the rest of their lives to prevent rejection of the transplanted tissue.

A newer proposed treatment option is the replacement of corneal stem cells to restore vision. The grant from the NEI will fund Mount Sinai research to re-create a patients own stem cells and restore vision in those blinded by corneal disease. Technological advances in recent years have enabled researchers to take mature cells, in this case eyelid or oral skin cells, and coax them backward along the development pathways to become stem cells again. These eye-specific stem cells would then be redirected down pathways that become needed replacements for damaged cells in the cornea, in theory restoring vision.

Our findings will allow the creation of transplantable eye tissue that can restore the ocular surface, said Albert Y. Wu, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and principle investigator for the grant-funded effort. In the future, we will be able to re-create a patients own corneal stem cells to restore vision after being blind, added Dr. Wu, also Director of the Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory in the Department of Ophthalmology and a member of the Black Family Stem Cell Institute at Icahn School of Medicine. Since the stem cells are their own, patients will not require immunosuppressive drugs, which would greatly improve their quality of life.

Specifically, the grant will support efforts to discover new stem cell therapies for ocular surface disease and make regenerative medicine a reality for people who have lost their vision. The research team will investigate the most viable stem cell sources, seek to create ocular stem cells from eyelid or oral skin cells, explore the molecular pathways involved in ocular and orbital development, and develop cutting-edge biomaterials to engraft a patients own stem cells and restore vision.

Other investigators from Mount Sinai include Ihor Lemischka, PhD, Director, Black Family Stem Cell Institute and J. Mario Wolosin, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology. The research is supported by NEI grant EY023997.

###

See the rest here:
Mount Sinai Researchers Awarded $1 Million Grant to Find New Stem Cell Therapies for Vision Recovery

The Advancement of Stem Cell Technology

Welcome to the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group, an affiliate of the California Stem Cell Treatment Center / Cell Surgical Network of Beverly Hills and Rancho Mirage, California, USA.

Our affiliated Centers utilize cutting edge advanced techniques and innovative technology to improve the health and well being of our patients.

At the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group, we engage in the investigational use of Adult Adipose-derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) for clinical research and deployment through which patients who are suffering from diseases that may have limited treatment options have an opportunity to respond to stem cell based regenerative medicine and further advance the state of medicine, knowledge, and options for all patients.

Our expertise involves a deep commitment and long-term understanding, knowledge and experience in clinical research and the advancement of regenerative medicine. Our staff and Physicians at the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group have been trained by the Founders and world renown specialists of the California Stem Cell Treatment Center, who have been nationally recognized for working with autologous (your own) Adult Autologous Adipose-adipose derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) providing investigational therapy to patients with various inflammatory and/or degenerative conditions.

Our Centers utilize a fat transfer technology to isolate and implant the patients ownAdult Autologous Adipose-derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) from a small quantity of fat harvested by mini-liposuction on the same day. Using technology developed in South Korea, our Centers have developed an in-office procedure to isolate a cellular medium called Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF) which is rich in progenitor and Stem Cells. Our Founders have also worked in conjunction with a number of international organizations and physicians of great expertise to help develop our protocols for procedures. Whereas the California Stem Cell Treatment Center was developed in 2010, in 2012, the Cell Surgical Network (CSN) was formed to provide the same high level quality controlled investigational therapy both nationally and internationally.

Our Protocols are approved by an IRB (Institutional Review Board), and accordingly we are able to safely provide adipose (fat)-derived stem cell procedures on an investigational basis to our patients.The approving IRB is registered with the U.S. Department of Health, Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP). Modeled after the California Stem Cell Treatment Center, weve formed a multidisciplinary team to evaluate patients with a variety of conditions which are known to often be responsive to Stem Cell therapy.

All affiliate members of the California Stem Cell Treatment Center / Cell Surgical Network, including our Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group, contribute to the California Centers IRB approved investigational data. In this manner, we are continuously updating, researching, and learning more on how to help patients and advance the state of the art of regenerative medicine.

All patients who are interested in our investigational protocols will be evaluated by our physicians specially trained in our adipose-derived stem cell procedures and given an honest opinion as to the potential benefits and risks of stem cell therapy for their presenting condition.

The Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group is proud to be part of the only Institutional Review Board (IRB)-based stem cell procedure network in the United States that utilizes fat-transfer surgical technology. We have an array of ongoing IRB-approved protocols, and we provide care for patients with a wide variety of disorders that may benefit from adult stem cell-based regenerative therapy. At the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group we exploit anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory and regenerative properties of AdultAutologous Adipose-derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) to mitigate inflammatory and degenerative diseases.

Read more:
New York Stem Cell

As reported on October 5th in Nature, for the first time scientists have derived embryonic stem cells from individual patients by adding the nuclei of adult skin cells from patients with type 1 diabetes to unfertilized donor oocytes.

A team of scientists led by Dieter Egli and Scott Noggle at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Laboratory in New York City have made an important advance in the development of patient-specific stem cells that could impact the study and treatment of diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's.

The achievement is significant because such patient-specific cells potentially can be transplanted to replace damaged or diseased cells in persons with diabetes and other diseases without rejection by the patient's immune system. The scientists report further work is necessary before such cells can be used in cell-replacement medicine.

The research was conducted in The NYSCF Laboratory in Manhattan in collaboration with clinicians and researchers at Columbia University Medical Center. DNA analysis was provided by scientists at the University of California, San Diego.

"The specialized cells of the adult human body have an insufficient ability to regenerate missing or damaged cells caused by many diseases and injuries," said Dr. Egli, NYSCF senior scientist in the study. "But if we can reprogram cells to a pluripotent state, they can give rise to the very cell types affected by disease, providing great potential to effectively treat and even cure these diseases. In this three-year study, we successfully reprogrammed skin cells to the pluripotent state. Our hope is that we can eventually overcome the remaining hurdles and use patient-specific stem cells to treat and cure people who have diabetes and other diseases."

"The ultimate goal of this study is to save and enhance lives by finding better treatments and eventually cures for diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other debilitating diseases and injuries affecting millions of people across the US and the globe," said NYSCF CEO Susan L. Solomon. "This research brings us an important step closer to creating new healthy cells for patients to replace their cells that are damaged or lost through injury."

Read the full NYSCF press release here

UPDATE:Read about TIME Magazine's highlight of this research as the Number One Medical Breakthrough of 2011

Read the FAQ about this research here

Read the Nature article here

Read more:
Scientists at New York Stem Cell Foundation, Columbia U ...

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise (New York, NY Oct. 14, 2014) A Mount Sinai-led research team has discovered a new kind of stem cell that can become either a liver cell or a cell that lines liver blood vessels, according to a study published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports. The existence of such a cell type contradicts current theory on how organs arise from cell layers in the embryo, and may hold clues to origins of, and future treatment for, liver cancer.

Thanks to stem cells, humans develop from a single cell into a complex being made up of more than 200 cell types. The original, single human stem cell, the fertilized embryo, has the potential to develop into every kind of human cell. Stem cells multiply (proliferate) and specialize (differentiate) until millions of functional cells result, including liver cells (hepatocytes), blood vessel cells (endothelial cells), muscle cells, bone cells, etc.

In the womb, the human embryo early on becomes three germ layers of stem cells the endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm. The long-held consensus was that the endoderm goes on to form the liver and other gut organs; the mesoderm the heart, muscles and blood cells; and the ectoderm the brain and skin. Researchers have sought to determine the germ layer that yields each organ because these origins hold clues to healthy function and disease mechanisms in adults.

We found a stem cell that can become either a liver cell, which is thought to originate in the endoderm, or an endothelial cell that helps to from a blood vessel, which was thought to derive from the mesoderm, said Valerie Gouon-Evans, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Developmental and Regenerative Biology and Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and lead author for the study. Our results go against traditional germ layer theory, which holds that a stem cell can only go on to become cell types in line with the germ layer that stem cell came from. Endothelial cells may arise from both the endoderm and mesoderm.

Cell Growth Plusses and Minuses Beyond the womb, many human organs contain pools of partially differentiated stem cells, which are ready to differentiate into specific replacement cells as needed. Among these are stem cells that know they are liver cells, but have enough stemness to become more than one cell type.

By advancing the understanding of stem cell processes in the liver, the study offers insights into mechanisms that drive liver cancer. The rapid growth seen in cells as the fetal liver develops is similar in some ways to the growth seen in tumors. Among the factors that make both possible is the building of blood vessels that supply nutrients and oxygen.

The research teams newfound, liver-based stem cell type has the ability to become part of newly formed blood vessels. Thus, a detailed understanding of it may have a decisive impact on understanding liver cancer progression, said Dr. Gouon-Evans. If similar bi-potential progenitor cells are found in liver cancers, they may be ideal targets for drugs that eradicate not only their descendant liver cancer cells but also the formation of blood vessels that feed tumors.

The new study also has implications for the field of liver regeneration. Many labs seek to understand how the liver repairs itself when damaged, and many clinical trials to determine whether injecting healthy liver cells into damaged livers can repair them.

Read more:
Cell Discovery Challenges Dogma on How Fetus Develops; Holds Insights for Liver Cancer and Regeneration