Year 2
Human cancer cells were recently found to arise from a group of special stem cells, called cancer stem cells (CSCs). At present, cancer that has spread throughout the body (metastasized) is difficult to treat, and survival rates are low. One major reason for therapeutic failure is that CSCs are relatively resistant to current cancer treatments. Although most cancer cells are killed by treatment, resistant CSCs will survive to regenerate additional cancer cells and cause a recurrence of cancer. As opposed to other human stem cells, CSCs may have some unique molecules that can be targeted for cancer treatment. This project is to use such technologies as our patented one-bead one-compound technology (OBOC) to develop small molecules that can specifically target cancer stem cells. With OBOC, trillions copies of small molecules are synthesized in tiny beads around 90 microns. During development, millions of molecules can be screened against cancer stem cells with hours to days. So far, we have identified six molecules that target CSC. Currently, we are optimizing these molecules to increase their efficiency of these molecules on CSC. Once fully developed, these molecules will have the potential to eradicate cancer from the very root, i.e., from the stem cells (CSCs) that produce mature cancer cells.