PROG 3- CANCER STEM CELLS

癌症干细胞研究计划是基于关于癌症起源和性质的关键发现 按计划成员分类的干细胞。第一个发现是只有一小部分癌细胞， 干细胞，驱动肿瘤的生长和转移。这些细胞必须被清除，如果患者是 需要治愈。第二，癌症是由于不受控制的自我更新而产生的，正常和 肿瘤干细胞在同一发育阶段产生新的细胞。因为自我更新是一个关键 癌症干细胞及其正常对应细胞的功能，必须找到方法来 描述和区分这些自我更新途径，以使癌症干细胞易于处理 治疗靶点。首批肿瘤干细胞的鉴定及验证 假说既要求也促进了基础研究和临床研究的整合。每种癌症 干细胞可能具有起源组织所特有的特征以及共同的特征。 到自我更新的干细胞。该计划旨在利用癌症中心机制促进 将这些重要的见解与癌症生物学所需的临床专业知识相结合 将他们转到诊所，在那里他们将推进癌症治疗。为了实现这一点，我们聚集在一起 由领先的基础和临床研究人员组成的大型团队共同努力，解决以下计划 目标： 1)鉴定常见癌症中的肿瘤干细胞群 2)研究癌症干细胞自我更新、扩散和存活的可能途径 3)开发针对癌症干细胞的新疗法 该计划由来自该学院10个不同系的32名成员组成 在上一财年，NCI总共提供了130万美元的资金。计划成员拥有 在过去的5年中发表了324份报告。在这些稿件中，12%涉及方案内和 17%的方案间协作，分别反映了高生产率和协作性 我们成员的性质。该计划将促进基础科学家和 临床科学家将使我们能够利用我们的基础科学研究的力量来加快 癌症患者的临床护理进展。

The Cancer Stem Cells Research Program is based on pivotal findings on the origin and nature of cancer stem cells by Program members. The first discovery is that only a small percentage of the cancer cells, the stem cells, drive the growth and metastasis of tumors. These cells must be eliminated if the patient is to be cured. Second, cancers arise because of unregulated self-renewal, the process by which normal and neoplastic stem cells generate new cells at the same developmental stage. As self-renewal is a critical function of both cancer stem cells and their normal counterparts, approaches must be found to characterize and differentiate these self-renewal pathways in order to make cancer stem cells tractable therapeutic targets. The identification of the first cancer stem cells and validation of the cancer stem cell hypothesis both demand and facilitate the integration of basic research and clinical studies. Each cancer stem cell will likely have characteristics unique to the tissue of origin as well as characteristics common to self-renewing stem cells. This Program intends to use the Cancer Center mechanism to facilitate the integration of these important insights into cancer biology with the clinical expertise necessary to translate them to the clinic where they will advance cancer care. To accomplish this we have assembled a large team of leading basic and clinical researchers to work together to address the following Program objectives: 1) To identify the cancer stem cell population in common cancers 2) To investigate potential pathways critical for self-renewal, spread and survival of cancer stem cells 3) To develop new therapies directed against cancer stem cells This Program is comprised of thirty-two members from ten different departments in the School of Medicine with a total of $1.3 million in NCI funding in the last fiscal year. The program members have published 324 reports in the past 5 years. Of these manuscripts, 12% involved intra-programatic and 17% inter-programmatic collaborations, respectively, reflecting the highly productive and collaborative nature of our members. This Program will facilitate further interactions between basic scientists and clinical scientists that will enable us to to exploit the strength of our basic science research to expedite advances in the clinical care of cancer patients.