Establishment of cancer stem cells and the therapeutic strategy in malignant Mullerian tumors

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23659787
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Obstetrics and gynecology
• Research Institution: International University of Health and Welfare
• Principal Investigator: MAKOTO EMOTO 国際医療福祉大学, 保健医療学部, 教授 (80258540)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 癌幹細胞 / ミューラー管腫瘍 / 子宮癌肉腫 / CD133 / PAX2 / 血管新生 / VEGF

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The biological characteristics of malignant Mullerian tumors (Uterine carcinosarcomas) are still unclear. We identified the cancer stem cells in this tumor by using FU-MMT-1 cells, which was established by our own from human uterine carcinosarcoma (Emoto M. Cancer 1992). These cancer stem cells in FU-MMT-1 significantly expressed OCT4, NANOG, SOX2, C-MYC, BMI-1 as well as the Mullerian gene, PAX2 and WNT-4. The CD133 positive FU-MMT-1 cells also possessed high angiogenic activity (high expression of VEGF-A), thus, the anti-angiogenic therapy might be expected as a new therapeutic strategy for these tumors.

Free Research Field

婦人科腫瘍、癌幹細胞