Human fat could help in treating brain cancer

Researchers have claimed that they have used stem cells derived from human body fat to treat brain cancer in mice.

Scientists from Johns Hopkins University said that their biological treatment procedure using mesenchymal stem cells, which were harvested from human fat tissue, was able to successfully treat mice with the most common and aggressive form of brain tumor, significantly extending their lives.

According to the study, the technique could work in people after surgical removal of brain cancers called glioblastomas to find and destroy any remaining cancer cells in difficult-to-reach areas of the brain.

The researchers have revealed that the mice treated this way had less tumor growth and spread, and their cancers were overall less aggressive and had fewer migratory cancer cells compared to mice that didn't get the treatment.

Lead researcher Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa said that these modified mesenchymal stem cells are like a Trojan horse, in that they successfully make it to the tumor without being detected and then release their therapeutic contents to attack the cancer cells.

The study was published in Clinical Cancer Research.