Center for Cancer Stem Cell Biology and Therapy

Standard cancer therapies utilize surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation to attack and kill cancer tumors. While survival rates have improved over the years, cancer remains one of the largest threats to public health, particularly in South Carolina, which has high rates of breast, colon, lung, and prostate cancer. The Center for Cancer Stem Cell Biology and Therapy Center of Economic Excellence (CoEE) seeks to improve cancer outcomes by developing new therapeutic options for killing cancer stem cells, including stem cell replacement.

The research focus of this Center is two-fold: first, identify ways to use stem cells found in bone marrow or adult organs as treatment targets for cancer therapy; second, develop and market the bioengineering aspects of stem cell collection and utilization for more functional, adaptable clinical applications. 

Recently the Center successfully recruited Zihai Li, MD, PhD, as its first endowed chair. An international expert in tumor immunology and oncology, Dr. Li’s research suggests there is potential to develop a vaccine against colon cancer. Dr. Li made international headlines in October 2009 when a report of his studies was published in Stem Cells. The study revealed the potential for human stem cells to provide a vaccination against colon cancer. Speaking about his discovery, Dr. Li said, “This finding potentially opens up a new paradigm for cancer vaccine research. Cancer and stem cells share many molecular and biological features. By immunizing the host with stem cells, we are able to ‘fool’ the immune system to believe that cancer cells are present and thus to initiate a tumor-combating immune program. Although we have only tested the protection against colon cancer, we believe that stem cells might be useful for generating an immune response against a broad spectrum of cancers, thus serving as a universal cancer vaccine.”

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For more information, visit http://hcc.musc.edu