This study showed that the glioblastoma stem cells grown under the two different conditions, serum or serum-free, had vastly different physiological and genetic characteristics. The glioblastoma tumor stem cells grown under serum-free conditions had the same characteristics as the parent glioblastoma cells. The glioblastoma tumor stem cells cultured with serum, however, lost all biological and genetic characteristics of the original tumor cells and ultimately assumed the characteristics of the traditional glioblastoma cell lines that have been grown in serum and studied for more than 20 years.

"When serum is added to tumor stem cells, it causes them to differentiate, and they become different cells," said Fine. "For decades, we have, in a sense, been weeding out these tumor stem cells -- which we have shown to be important models to understand cancer biology -- with our use of traditional growth methods."


Glioblastoma multiforme is a type of glioma and gliomas are the most common primary malignant tumors of the central nervous system in adults, and primary brain tumors are now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. An estimated 18,820 new cases of brain cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2006, and more than 12,000 will die from the disease.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
*Lee J, Kotliarova S, Kotliarov Y, Li A, Su Q, Donin NM, Pastorino S, Purow BW, Christopher N, Zhang W, Park JK, Fine HA. Tumor stem cells derived from glioblastomas cultured in bFGF and EGF more closely mirror the phenotype and genotype of primary tumors than do serum-cultured cell lines. Cancer Cell. May 15, 2006, Vol.9, Issue 5.

Back to HCB News

More Industry Headlines