GMRI scientists to present at the International Stem Cell Conference
Dr Swee Tan, Executive Director, and Dr Tinte Itinteang, Chief Scientific Officer, will be attending and presenting at the 10th International Conference on Cancer Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine in London, to be held in June. The theme of the conference is Cancer Stem Cells: Targeting the Roots of Cancer.
The GMRI is at the forefront of cancer research based on the concept that cancer stem cells are the origin of cancer. Dr Tan says “Imagine cancer being like a beehive. Within the beehive there is a queen bee – the cancer stem cell – which gives rise to a large number of worker bees – the cancer cells. The queen bee can also make copies of itself and move away to make more beehives, consistent with how cancer recurs and spread.”
“Over the last few years we have investigated a dozen types of cancers affecting different major organ systems. We have identified and characterised cancer stem cells and a common regulatory system that we believe is vital in controlling the cancer stem cells,” says Dr Itinteang.
The team at the GMRI have published their findings extensively in international journals. Click here for some of the recent articles (tongue cancer, cheek cancer, lip cancer, brain cancer).
The GMRI has had five abstracts accepted for presentation at this prestigious international conference. Dr Tan and Dr Itinteang will present the team’s discoveries of cancer stem cells in glioblastoma multiforme (a deadly form of brain cancer), three different types of mouth cancer, kidney cancer and colon cancer. As a stem cell research institute, the GMRI’s research team has successfully pioneered creating red blood cells from stem cells derived from strawberry birthmarks. “We will be presenting the process we have developed for creating red blood cells in the lab”, says Dr Itinteang. “With further work, blood transfusion may become a thing of the past”.
