Gomes Juliana P A, Assoni Amanda F, Pelatti Mayra, Coatti Giuliana, Okamoto Oswaldo Keith, Zatz Mayana
Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center, Biosciences Institute, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center, Biosciences Institute, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Anticancer Res. 2017 Sep;37(9):4747-4758. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.11881.
In cancer, mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) have been considered as vehicles for targeted delivery of drugs due to their inherent tropism toward primary and metastatic tumors. However, it is still unclear whether MSCs could be therapeutically explored without significant harm, since a great amound of evidence indicates that MSCs are able to exert both tumor-suppressive and pro-oncogenic effects. Here, we discuss how MSCs might adopt a pro- or anti-inflammatory profile in response to changes within the tumor microenvironment and how these features may lead to opposite outcomes in tumor development. Additionally, we address how differences in experimental design might impact interpretation and consistency of the current literature in this specific field. Finally, we point-out critical issues to be addressed at a pre-clinical stage, regarding safety and therapeutic effectiveness of MSCs application in cancer treatment.
在癌症中，间充质干/基质细胞（MSCs）因其对原发性和转移性肿瘤固有的趋向性，而被视为药物靶向递送的载体。然而，目前仍不清楚MSCs在不造成重大伤害的情况下是否可用于治疗，因为大量证据表明MSCs既能发挥肿瘤抑制作用，也能产生促癌作用。在此，我们讨论MSCs如何根据肿瘤微环境的变化呈现促炎或抗炎特征，以及这些特征如何在肿瘤发展中导致相反的结果。此外，我们探讨实验设计的差异如何影响该特定领域当前文献的解读和一致性。最后，我们指出在临床前阶段需要解决的关键问题，即MSCs应用于癌症治疗的安全性和治疗效果。
