Over the past few decades, there has been growing interest in understanding the molecular mechanisms of cancer pathogenesis and progression, as it is still associated with high morbidity and mortality. Current management of large bone sarcomas typically includes the complex therapeutic approach of limb salvage or sacrifice combined with pre- and postoperative multidrug chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, and is still associated with high recurrence rates. The development of cellular strategies against specific characteristics of tumour cells appears to be promising, as they can target cancer cells selectively. Recently, Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) have been the subject of significant research in orthopaedic clinical practice through their use in regenerative medicine. Further research has been directed at the use of MSCs for more personalized bone sarcoma treatments, taking advantage of their wide range of potential biological functions, which can be augmented by using tissue engineering approaches to promote healing of large defects. In this review, we explore the use of MSCs in bone sarcoma treatment, by analyzing MSCs and tumour cell interactions, transduction of MSCs to target sarcoma, and their clinical applications on humans concerning bone regeneration after bone sarcoma extraction.

The term \"non-coding RNA\" (ncRNA) is generally used to indicate RNA that does not encode a protein and includes several classes of RNAs, such as microRNA and long non-coding RNA. Several lines of evidence suggest that ncRNAs appear to be involved in a hidden layer of biological procedures that control various levels of gene expression in physiology and development including stem cell biology. Stem cells have recently constituted a revolution in regenerative medicine by providing the possibility of generating suitable cell types for therapeutic use. Here, we review the recent progress that has been made in elaborating the interaction between ncRNAs and tissue/cancer stem cells, discuss related technical and biological challenges, and highlight plausible solutions to surmount these difficulties. This review particularly emphasises the involvement of ncRNAs in stem cell biology and in vivo modulation to treat and cure specific pathological disorders especially in cancer. We believe that a better understanding of the molecular machinery of ncRNAs as related to pluripotency, cellular reprogramming, and lineage-specific differentiation is essential for progress of cancer therapy.

Oncolytic viruses are a relatively new class of anti-cancer immunotherapy agents. Several viruses have undergone evaluation in clinical trials in the last decades, and the first agent is about to be approved to be used as a novel cancer therapy modality. In the current review, an overview is presented on recent (pre)clinical developments in the field of oncolytic viruses that have previously been or currently are being evaluated in clinical trials. Special attention is given to possible safety issues like toxicity, environmental shedding, mutation and reversion to wildtype virus.

The goal is to elucidate the immune modulating activity of an adenovirus (Adv) vector which showed therapeutic activity in human clinical trials. The oncolytic adenovirus (Adv/CD-TK) expressing two suicide genes was tested in two HER2/neu positive BALB/c mouse mammary tumor systems: rat neu-induced TUBO and human HER2-transfected D2F2/E2. Intra-tumoral (i.t.) Adv/CD-TK injection of TUBO tumor plus systemic prodrug therapy showed limited antitumor activity, not exceeding that by the virus itself. Antibody (Ab) to the virus was induced in Adv-/Luc-treated mice, to coincide with the loss of transgene expression. Low replication activity of adenoviruses in rodent cells may limit viral persistence. Host immunity against Adv or Adv-infected cells further mutes suicide gene activity. Treatment of TUBO tumors with Adv/CD-TK alone, however, induced neu-specific Ab responses. Treatment with Adv/CD-TK/GM (Adv/GM) that also expressed mouse granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), but without prodrug treatment, delayed tumor growth, enhanced anti-neu Ab production and conferred complete protection against secondary tumor challenge. D2F2/E2 tumor-bearing mice showed decreased tumor growth following i.t. Adv/GM treatment and they generated greater HER2-specific T-cell responses. These data suggest that i.t. injection of Adv itself induces immune reactivity to tumor-associated antigens and the encoded cytokine, GM-CSF, amplifies that immune response, resulting in tumor growth inhibition. Incorporation of suicide gene therapy did not improve the efficacy of Adv therapy in this mouse mammary tumor system. Oncolytic adenoviral therapy may be streamlined and improved by substituting the suicide genes with immune modulating genes to exploit tumor immunity for therapeutic benefit.