A study aimed at the establishment and clinical application of a novel digestive system cancer primary culture method.

Abstract

This collaborative study is aimed at the establishment and clinical application of a novel digestive system cancer primary culture method. Cancer is a significant public health problem in developed countries. Global incidence is on the rise and has spiked in recent years. Although the disease has been shown to involve genetic and epigenetic alterations that are characterised by uncontrolled proliferative and invasive potencies, little is known about the most effective treatment for each "indivisual cancer". This research has received funding from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development and a grant-in-aid for scientific research. It builds on the researchers' previous work in which they generated pluripotent cells from cancer cells and generated and analysed normal stem cells derived from adipogenetic stem cells by miRNA induction. From previous works, they established primary culture methods with tumor heterogenity produced by cancer stem cells. They have also previously worked on the examination of new genes related to cancer proliferation and prognosis, for example PDGFRB, OCT4, TGM2 and TRIB3.