Journal of Stem Cell Research & Therapy

Newer paradigm of melanoma stem cell directed therapy in human melanoma

3^rd International Conference and Exhibition on Cell & Gene Therapy

October 27-29, 2014 Embassy Suites Las Vegas, USA

Bhuvnesh K Sharma

Accepted Abstracts: J Stem Cell Res Ther

Abstract:

Malignant Melanoma (MM) is one of the mystifying of all skin diseases which represents a major public health concern. In recent past decades, its global incidence rates have increased more rapidly. MM is highly aggressive disease characterized by high potential of developing metastases and distinctly resistant to conventional therapy. Chemotherapeutic refractoriness of advanced MM attributes several resistance mechanisms and the role of Melanoma Stem Cells (MSCs) has recently been implicated. It is apparent that a distinct subpopulation of MSCs resides inside melanoma tumor microenvironment and has the privilege of utilizing all cellular machinery of self-renewal through the activation of telomerase, genomic instability. Several evidences on the existence of a distinct subpopulation of MSCs in metastatic lesions of melanoma clearly reinforce our premise that melanoma chemo-resistance is linked with MSCs that survive chemotherapy, subsequently promoting tumor recurrence and metastases. Our recent investigations clearly elucidated the existence of a distinct hyperpolarized population of stem cells which have preferential over-expression and simultaneous expression of four markers CD133, ABCB5, CD166 and Nestin at different stages of MM. In addition, Clonal dominance of CD133+ subset population was observed in tissues from patients with recurrent disease versus those without disease recurrence. Relative risk analysis between these two groups suggested that the patients with recurrence or metastatic lesion had a greater than 2 fold over-expression which also corroborated with upregulation of CD133 RNA level (14- to 30 fold). Therefore, newer strategies on the on the precise identification and targeting melanoma stem cells could significantly improve the efficiency of therapeutic modalities and reducing the probabilities of recurrences and metastases of melanoma.