Fight against tumor angiogenesis: not by washing, but by rolling!

Uncontrolled growth of blood vessels inside malignant tumors ensures the delivery of nutrients and, accordingly, the growth of the tumor, and the abnormal characteristics of these vessels make it difficult for the cells of the immune system to destroy the tumor.

Scientists of the Institute of Medical Research of Western Australia, working under the guidance of Dr. Ruth Ganss, have established that the RGS5 gene is the main regulatory gene for angiogenesis (growth of blood vessels) and its removal leads to the cessation of the formation of new vessels and the acquisition of normal characteristics by usually abnormal tumor vessels.

An important point is that the normalization of blood vessels changes the tumor microenvironment in such a way that the access of immune cells to the tumor is facilitated. This means the possibility of destroying the tumor and improving survival, currently proven only in laboratory tests.

Such a restructuring of the growth of abnormal vessels is a fundamentally new approach to the fight against tumor angiogenesis, the traditional methods of which are aimed at blocking or destroying the vessels feeding the tumor.

The authors believe that increasing the effectiveness and reducing the severity of side effects of modern therapeutic approaches to the treatment of tumors is possible only if a detailed understanding of the processes occurring in the tumor tissue.

As part of an earlier study, scientists described the possibility of increasing the effectiveness of the antitumor immune response by introducing inflammatory compounds into tumors. The changes in the tumor microenvironment that occur in this case attract immune cells to the tumor zone, facilitate their penetration into the tumor tissue and reduce the amount of toxins spreading through the body.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily

24.04.2008