The Scientific Centre of Monaco’s Stem Cells and Brain Tumours team is expanding, forming collaborations with other well-known facilities to learn how to better treat and manage childhood and adolescent cancers.

Cancer is major killer that strikes indiscriminately: young, old, rich or poor. As such, research into treatments and potential cures have been high on scientists’ lists, with many breakthroughs being made in recent times.

Back in May, Monaco Life reported on new research being studied at the Scientific Centre of Monaco (CSM) aimed at reprogramming brain cancer stem cells to better respond to treatments.

According to the research, cancer stem cells show all the characteristics of embryonic nerve stem cells that support brain development. Their capacity for self-renewal and resistance to therapies are central in the phenomena of relapses, which are fatal in almost all cases. The objective, therefore, is to reprogram these tumour cells to make them more vulnerable to treatment and thus reduce the risk of recurrence of the disease.

Since then, the CSM team, led by Vincent Picco, has renamed their work ‘Stem Cells and Brain Tumour Research’ and has extended its network of resources and support. The team has joined forces with the laboratory of Li Xiao-Nan of the Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago and teams from the Gustave Roussy Institute in Paris, who are leading the clinical research project on paediatric tumours called Molecular Profiling for Paediatric and Young Adult Cancer Treatment Stratification (MAPPYACT).

Also on board are the Researchers in Oncology Acting for Kids (REACT4KIDS) network, who promote exchanges between research scientists and others in the field. The organisation’s primary objective is simple: to provide a better understanding of the molecular bases of childhood and adolescent cancers, in order to be able to better manage and treat them.

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Photo source: CSM