PI Eric Lagasse, PhD
Co-PI(s) Joerg Gerlach
Title Ovarian Cancer, Stem Cells and Bioreactors
Summary Addressing the needs of new approaches for anti-cancer therapies by combining stem cell biology, cancer biology and bioengineering. Our central hypothesis is that cancer stem cells are initiating and sustaining the growth of ovarian cancer. In consequence, the identification of the cancer stem cells represents a major step forward in the elucidation of ovarian cancer hierarchy and could hold the key to understanding the origin and maintenance of ovarian cancer, the relapses and possibly the metastases in advanced cases. Another problem facing cancer cell biology is the access of in vitro culture models for research and study of cancer development and its pathophysiology. Here we propose to adopt bioreactors used for bioartificial livers (BAL) to provide tumor cells with a 3-D perfusion culture instrument that recapitulate vasculature and microenvironment.
Source Department of the Army
Term 04/01/08-09/30/08
Amount $111,375