CD47 target: from theory to reality

Irving Weissman at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California found that leukemia cells produced higher levels of CD47. This high expression help tumor cells to escape from the immune system. To date, the CD47 receptor becomes the interesting target in cancer treatment. Some recent studies from in vitro to pre-clinical trials showed that blocking CD47 by anti-CD47 or morpholino efficiently tumor cells or tumor growth. From these results, some clinical trials were suggested to test the safety and efficacy of anti-CD47 therapy. There is at least a clinical trial using anti-CD47 therapy registered in clinicaltrial.gov. Some other clinical trials will be performed at Stanford in the mid-2014 as well as in the United Kingdom.