Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells from Tissue Repair to Destruction of Tumor Cells

A tumor is a complex framework composed of tumor cells (TC) and stroma where the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cellular components such as immune cells, vessels cells and fibroblasts interact closely together. Here these complex interactions are addressed in the light of the possible use of mesenchymal stomal cells to target tumors.

A TRAIL delivery approach has been performed by our group and, for the first time, stably transducer stem cells expressing-TRAIL showed a strong cytotoxic effect against human cervical carcinoma in vivo.105 We demonstrate the efficiency of TRAIL and its secretable forms in the inhibition of tumor cell growth suggesting that, despite the still unclear role of MSCs in influencing tumor cell growth, these cells can be translated from the regenerative medicine to specifically target cancer.