iPS-derived MSCs from an expandable bank to deliver a prodrug-converting enzyme that limits growth and metastases of human breast cancers

One attractive strategy to treat cancers is to deliver an exogenous enzyme that will convert a non-toxic compound to a highly toxic derivative. The strategy was tested with viral vectors but was disappointing because the efficiency of transduction into tumor cells was too low. Recent reports demonstrated that the limitation can be addressed by using tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) to deliver enzyme/prodrug systems that kill adjacent cancer cells through bystander effects. Here we addressed the limitation that tissue-derived MSCs vary in their properties and are difficult to generate in the large numbers needed for clinical applications. We prepared a Feeder Stock of MSCs from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSs) that provided an extensively expandable source of standardized cells. We then transduced the iPS-derived MSCs to express cytosine deaminase and injected them locally into a mouse xenogeneic model of human breast cancer. After administration of the prodrug (5-fluorocytosine), the transduced iPS-MSCs both limited growth of preformed tumors and decreased lung metastases.