Early Diagnosis, Treatment and Care of Cancer Patients.

摘要

This grant program encompasses two complimentary projects. The hypothesis that leukemia can be treated effectively by inhibition of putative cancer stem cells will be tested in project No. 1. This will be done by application of inhibitors of stem cells as a novel approach for eradication of leukemia tumor cells. Parthenolide (PTL)-based drugs and related drugs that inhibit nuclear factor kappa B (NF- B) will be used. The effects of these drugs will also be tested on normal hematopoietic cells. In project 2, studies will investigate how standard therapies effect normal CNS stem cells, and will attempt to develop less toxic regimens for the treatment of brain cancers. To this end, studies will determine whether parthenolide or related drugs cause CNS damage in animals treated with these substances, and will assess whether parthenolide can function as a chemosensitizing agent for various conventional chemotherapy drugs.