Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Clinical-Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Surgical Sciences, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Clinical-Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Acta Biomed. 2020 Jun 30;91(7-S):51-60. doi: 10.23750/abm.v91i7-S.9955.
Stem cells (SCs) represent a recent and attractive therapeutic option for neuro-oncology, as well as for treating degenerative, ischemic and traumatic pathologies of the central nervous system. This is mainly because of their homing capacity, which makes them capable of reaching the inaccessible SC niches of the tumor, therefore, acting as living drugs. The target of the study is a comprehensive overview of the SC-based therapies in neuro-oncology, also highlighting the current translational challenges of this type of approach.
An online search of the literature was carried out on the PubMed/MEDLINE and ClinicalTrials.gov websites, restricting it to the most pertinent keywords regarding the systematization of the SCs and their therapeutic use for malignant brain tumors. A large part of the search was dedicated to clinical trials. Only preclinical and clinical data belonging to the last 5 years were shortlisted. A further sorting was implemented based on the best match and relevance.
The results consisted in 96 relevant articles and 31 trials. Systematization involves a distinction between human embryonic, fetal and adult, but also totipotent, pluripotent or multipotent SCs. Mesenchymal and neuronal SCs were the most studied for neuro-oncological illnesses. 30% and 50% of the trials were phase I and II, respectively.
Mesenchymal and neuronal SCs are ideal candidates for SCs-based therapy of malignant brain tumors. The spectrum of their possible applications is vast and is mainly based on the homing capacity toward the tumor microenvironment. Availability, delivery route, oncogenicity and ethical issues are the main translational challenges concerning the use of SCs in neuro-oncology.
干细胞（SCs）是神经肿瘤学以及治疗中枢神经系统退行性、缺血性和创伤性疾病的一种新兴且极具吸引力的治疗选择。这主要是因为它们的归巢能力，使其能够到达肿瘤中难以到达的干细胞龛位，从而起到活体药物的作用。本研究的目的是对神经肿瘤学中的基于干细胞的治疗方法进行全面概述，同时强调这种方法目前在转化方面所面临的挑战。
在 PubMed/MEDLINE 和 ClinicalTrials.gov 网站上进行了在线文献检索，主要针对与干细胞的系统化及其在恶性脑肿瘤治疗中的应用相关的关键词进行了检索。搜索的很大一部分内容都集中在临床试验上。仅选择了最近 5 年内属于临床前和临床数据的内容。根据最佳匹配和相关性进行了进一步的分类。
结果共包括 96 篇相关文章和 31 项试验。系统化涉及到对人胚胎、胎儿和成人干细胞的区分，还涉及全能、多能或多能干细胞。间充质干细胞和神经干细胞是神经肿瘤学疾病研究最多的干细胞。试验分别有 30%和 50%处于 I 期和 II 期。
间充质干细胞和神经干细胞是恶性脑肿瘤基于干细胞治疗的理想候选者。其可能应用的范围非常广泛，主要基于其对肿瘤微环境的归巢能力。可用性、给药途径、致瘤性和伦理学问题是干细胞在神经肿瘤学中应用的主要转化挑战。
