TY - JOUR T1 - Deepening a Simple Question: Can MSCs Be Used to Treat Cancer? JF - Anticancer Research JO - Anticancer Res SP - 4747 LP - 4758 VL - 37 IS - 9 AU - JULIANA P.A. GOMES AU - AMANDA F. ASSONI AU - MAYRA PELATTI AU - GIULIANA COATTI AU - OSWALDO KEITH OKAMOTO AU - MAYANA ZATZ Y1 - 2017/09/01 UR - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/37/9/4747.abstract N2 - In cancer, mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) have been considered as vehicles for targeted delivery of drugs due to their inherent tropism toward primary and metastatic tumors. However, it is still unclear whether MSCs could be therapeutically explored without significant harm, since a great amound of evidence indicates that MSCs are able to exert both tumor-suppressive and pro-oncogenic effects. Here, we discuss how MSCs might adopt a pro- or anti-inflammatory profile in response to changes within the tumor microenvironment and how these features may lead to opposite outcomes in tumor development. Additionally, we address how differences in experimental design might impact interpretation and consistency of the current literature in this specific field. Finally, we point-out critical issues to be addressed at a pre-clinical stage, regarding safety and therapeutic effectiveness of MSCs application in cancer treatment. ER -