Clinical Trials within U.S.: Cancer

David James Pinato

STEM CELL RESEARCH is playing an increasingly relevant role both in clinical and experimental oncology at the present time. On the one hand, the identification of cancer stem cells in different neoplasms noticeably modified general comprehension about cancer biology; on the other, the delivery of such growing knowledge from bench to bedside is starting to affect therapeutic choices in cancer treatment. Bone marrow transplants (BMTs) were the first application of stem cells in cancer therapy. Available since 1956, and subsequently improved, this treatment is now considered a current therapeutic option for many hematological neoplasms, and much interest has been generated about the possibility of extending such procedures to solid tumors. BMT is more commonly performed as a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT), in which the infusion of HSCs previously harvested through a conditioning therapy (high—dose chemo—radiotherapy) can entirely rebuild the marrow in 10–20 days. Although the traditional HSCT needs a ...

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