Keys to the Cell
Get ready, aim and fire at the newest key target in the battle against breast cancer – blood vessel formation.
In a study done at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, researchers discovered that by targeting the step of blood vessel formation, called angiogenesis, they blocked the tumor progression.
Angiogenesis, which occurs in wound healing, female reproduction and fetal development, can enable tumors to grow out of control and spread cancer throughout the body. By using drugs like Avastin, a bevacizumab, the researchers inhibited a key protein in the process – the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). While the process is less toxic than traditional chemotherapy, there is more research to be done.
“VEGF is not responsible for all of angiogenesis,” says Dr. Nancy Klauber-DeMore, associate professor of surgery in the UNC School of Medicine and senior author of the study. “The most exciting aspect of this study is that we have a very large list of potential targets that we will continue to work on for the next decade.”
Since the study only looked at seven of the 55 potential targets that are “overexpressed” (produced in excess) on tumor blood vessels, it’s still necessary to determine whether the other proteins induce angiogenesis and then to design new compounds to inhibit tumor growth.
“This work points us in the direction we need to go to develop the next generation of angiogenesis inhibitors,” Klauber-DeMore says
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