Tumor-starving drugs show promise.To grow, most cancers must attract new blood vessels Blood vessels Tubular channels for blood transport, of which there are three principal types: arteries, capillaries, and veins. Only the larger arteries and veins in the body bear distinct names. to supply them with abundant nutrients. Therefore, some researchers are betting that drugs which starve these fast-dividing, malignant cells can be used to stop a tumor's spread. Two research teams presented findings on such drugs at the American Association for Cancer Research Wikipedia is not the place for advertisement or self-advertising. The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is an organization based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that focuses on all aspects of cancer research including basic, clinical and translational meeting held in New Orleans from March 28 to April 1. Researchers at Aeterna Laboratories in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, have derived an experimental drug from shark cartilage shark cartilage, n cartilage obtained from the hammerhead and dogfish sharks, used as an anticancer, antiinflammatory, and antiangiogenic treatment. Precautions for those with liver disease. , which contains substances that inhibit blood: vessel growth, or angiogenesis angiogenesis /an·gio·gen·e·sis/ (-jen´e-sis) vasculogenesis; development of blood vessels either in the embryo or in the form of neovascularization or revascularization. an·gi·o·gen·e·sis n. . Eric Dupont and his colleagues gave the experimental drug to 310 people with advanced lung cancer lung cancer, cancer that originates in the tissues of the lungs. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States in both men and women. Like other cancers, lung cancer occurs after repeated insults to the genetic material of the cell. . Although it provoked side effects such as fever in a few people, the compound appears safe, the researchers report. The team, which has shown that the drug reduces the spread of lung cancer in mice, now has an experiment under way to investigate the drug's efficacy in people. A U.S. team is focusing on a similar agent, called Angiostatin an·gi·o·stat·in n. A naturally occurring protein that is a specific inhibitor of endothelial proliferation and a potent angiogenesis inhibitor. It is under investigation as a potential cancer therapy. . That compound is a modified version of a human protein that blocks blood vessel growth. B. Kim Lee Sim of EntreMed in Rockville, Md., and her colleagues injected melanoma, a deadly skin cancer, into mice. They then treated the animals with Angiostatin for 11 days and counted the number of tumors spawned by the original cancer, "We showed that Angiostatin inhibits the number [of new tumors] by 60 to 80 percent," Sim says. EntreMed researchers hope that the drug will produce similar results in people with melanoma--and perhaps other cancers as well. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion