While a number of recent studies have focused on the role of stromal cells in advanced carcinomas, the stromal changes contributing to carcinogenesis have received considerably less attention. Gastric and hepatocellular cancer are two of the leading causes of cancer mortality worldwide, and are strongly linked to chronic infection (H. pylori versus HBV/HCV, respectively) and the consequent state of sustained inflammation. This application is submitted by the Tumor Microenvironment Program at the Columbia University Cancer Center, bringing together leading investigators in the areas of gastric carcinogenesis and liver fibrosis with experts in other areas to examine the role of stromal cells in liver and gastric carcinogenesis. This highly collaborative and multidisciplinary group encompasses experts in stromal cells, chronic inflammation/NF-kB, angiogenesis, epigenetics, optical imaging, and bioinformatics. It also includes a clinical arm that will conduct parallel studies on stromal cells from primary gastric and liver tumors, and a translational component (effects of COX-2 inhibition on tumor vascular stromal cells). Our proposal is based heavily on novel observations by this team of researchers regarding the bone marrow origin of cancer and stromal cells, the mechanism of activation of myofibroblasts (e.g. stellate cells), and on the link between chronic inflammation, angiogenesis, and the development of cancer. The program includes 4 projects and 2 cores. Project 1. Stromal myofibroblasts in gastric carcinogenesis (PI - Timothy C. Wang). Project 2. Stromal myofibroblasts in hepatic carcinogenesis (PI - David A. Brenner) Project 3. Interactions between digestive cancers and the vascular stroma (PI - Jan Kitajewski) Project 4. Epigenetics and genetics of stromal cells in liver and gastric cancer (PI - Benjamin Tycko) The Cores, which include an Imaging Core led by Andreas Hielscher, and an Administrative/Bioinformatics Core led by Timothy C. Wang and Andrea Califano, will be utilized by most of the projects and will provide additional focus and unity to the Project as a whole. In addition, most of the projects will utilize unique transgenic models of cancer (e.g. INS-GAS), reporter gene mice (ASMA-RFP/COLL-EGFP/Luc) targeting myofibroblasts, and a new method of methylation-sensitive SNP chip analysis (MSNP) to profile the myofibroblasts. Taken together, the data from these murine and human studies should lead to new insights regarding tumor-stroma interactions and their origins in early cancer.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Specialized Center--Cooperative Agreements (U54)
Project #
3U54CA126513-02S1
Application #
7615338
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZCA1-SRRB-3 (O1))
Program Officer
Ogunbiyi, Peter
Project Start
2006-09-30
Project End
2011-08-31
Budget Start
2008-03-01
Budget End
2008-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$29,953
Indirect Cost
Name
Columbia University (N.Y.)
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
621889815
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10032
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Hayakawa, Yoku; Fox, James G; Wang, Timothy C (2017) The Origins of Gastric Cancer From Gastric Stem Cells: LessonsĀ From Mouse Models. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol 3:331-338
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Kumar, J Dinesh; Holmberg, Chris; Kandola, Sandhir et al. (2014) Increased expression of chemerin in squamous esophageal cancer myofibroblasts and role in recruitment of mesenchymal stromal cells. PLoS One 9:e104877
Shakya, Reena; Gonda, Tamas; Quante, Michael et al. (2013) Hypomethylating therapy in an aggressive stroma-rich model of pancreatic carcinoma. Cancer Res 73:885-96

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