AUTHOR=Hassanzadeh Ali , Altajer Amjad Hussein , Rahman Heshu Sulaiman , Saleh Marwan Mahmood , Bokov Dmitry O. , Abdelbasset Walid Kamal , Marofi Faroogh , Zamani Majid , Yaghoubi Yoda , Yazdanifar Mahboubeh , Pathak Yashwant , Chartrand Max Stanley , Jarahian Mostafa TITLE=RETRACTED: Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cell-Based Delivery: A Rapidly Evolving Strategy for Cancer Therapy JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology VOLUME=9 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2021.686453 DOI=10.3389/fcell.2021.686453 ISSN=2296-634X ABSTRACT=

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (MSC)-based therapy has become an attractive and advanced scientific research area in the context of cancer therapy. This interest is closely linked to the MSC-marked tropism for tumors, suggesting them as a rational and effective vehicle for drug delivery for both hematological and solid malignancies. Nonetheless, the therapeutic application of the MSCs in human tumors is still controversial because of the induction of several signaling pathways largely contributing to tumor progression and metastasis. In spite of some evidence supporting that MSCs may sustain cancer pathogenesis, increasing proofs have indicated the suppressive influences of MSCs on tumor cells. During the last years, a myriad of preclinical and some clinical studies have been carried out or are ongoing to address the safety and efficacy of the MSC-based delivery of therapeutic agents in diverse types of malignancies. A large number of studies have focused on the MSC application as delivery vehicles for tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), chemotherapeutic drug such as gemcitabine (GCB), paclitaxel (PTX), and doxorubicin (DOX), prodrugs such as 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) and ganciclovir (GCV), and immune cell-activating cytokines along with oncolytic virus. In the current review, we evaluate the latest findings rendering the potential of MSCs to be employed as potent gene/drug delivery vehicle for inducing tumor regression with a special focus on the in vivo reports performed during the last two decades.