TANG Carol PhD (Macromolecular & Cellular Structure and Chemistry), The Scripps Research Institute, USA 1998. Principal Investigator & Head Neuro-Oncology Research Laboratory National Neuroscience Institute 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng Singapore 308433 Tel: (65) 6357 7616 (Office)       (65) 6357 7634 (Lab) Fax:(65) 6256 9178 Email: carol_tang@nni.com.sg

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Neuro-Oncology : Cancer Stem Cell Model of Glioma Tumorigenesis

  Although malignant tumors are known to be composed of a variety of different cell types, this concept of cellular heterogeneity in the study and design of anti-cancer therapeutics has largely been ignored. Emerging evidence in recent years has established key culprit cells within the tumor mass - the "cancer stem cells", which are responsible for initiation and propagation of tumor growth. These cancer stem cells are notoriously resistant to radiation and chemotherapy. The latter adjuvant therapies, which preferentially target rapidly dividing cells thus end up eliminating the bulk of tumor cells but spare these stem cells which divide at a much slower rate.

  Primary malignant brain tumors are devastating cancers with poor survival rates despite major advances in surgical technology and adjuvant therapies. The results of this study demonstrate the isolation of brain tumor stem cells from patient tumor samples, which are capable of re-creating tumor masses in mice. These implanted cells in the mouse brain eventually form tumors with a morphology identical to that seen on pathological analysis of patient specimens. These tumor cells-of-origin display genetic profiles totally distinct from the tumor bulk. Importantly, the group has found that different patients with similar tumor tissue pathology on microscopic examination display very different genetic profiles in their cells-of-origin, the cancer stem cells. This has major implications as current treatment strategies are largely decided based upon classification systems tailored according to morphological characteristics of the tumor. The different genetic profiles of such tumor stem cells might explain variability of treatment response and points to the existence of different genetic brain tumor subtypes which one is unable to discern based on current classification systems. As brain tumor stem cells constitute the minority of the tumor mass, a key challenge has been to create a stable collection of such cells to enable investigative efforts in drug screening. The group has established a method of cryopreservation that facilitates the establishment of a brain tumor stem cell repository.

PROFILE

• PhD (Macromolecular & Cellular Structure and Chemistry), The Scripps Research Institute, USA, 1998
• Glaxo-Economic Development Board PhD Scholarship, 1992-98
• Howard Hughes Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, USA, 1994-97

AFFILIATIONS

    1. Principal Investigator, Neuro-Oncology Research Lab, National Neuroscience 
        Institute
    2. Visiting Scientist, National Cancer Centre
    3. Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School 
        of Medicine, National University of Singapore
    4. Adjunct Assistant Professor, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School



PROJECTS