A group of researchers in Japan says it is using immune cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, in a clinical trial for cancer treatment.

The researchers say the clinical test started this month at Chiba University Hospital, near Tokyo, and is the first in the country to apply iPS cells to treat cancer.

A Japanese group of researchers says it has conducted heart surgery using sheets of heart muscle cells made from iPS cells.

Induced pluripotent stem cells are created from reprogrammed human cells and can develop into various kinds of body tissue.