Cancer Stem Cells in Moderately Differentiated Buccal Mucosal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Express Components of the Renin-Angiotensin System
Authors: Therese Featherston, Helen H. Yu, Jonathan C. Dunne, Alice M. Chibnall, Helen D. Brasch, Paul F. Davis, Swee T. Tan and Tinte Itinteang
Frontiers in Surgery – Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Front Surg 2016; 3:52
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fsurg.2016.00052
Cancer of the mouth is the sixth most common cancer world-wide. Those that affect the inside of the cheek (known as buccal mucosal squamous cell carcinoma, BMSCC) are particularly aggressive.
The GMRI’s research has shown that there is a population of cancer stem cells (CSCs) within this cancer. These are similar in properties to those CSCs identified by the GMRI in several other types of cancers. However, in BMSCC these CSCs are subdivided into three sub-populations.
We have gone on to demonstrate that the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is an important pathway in these CSCs in BMSCC. This discovery raises the potential for treating the cancer at the origin (i.e., the CSCs) by using medications commonly used for other conditions, that target the RAS.
