Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature mainly by processes of sprouting and splitting, but processes such as coalescent angiogenesis, vessel elongation and vessel cooption also play a role. Vasculogenesis is the embryonic formation of endothelial cells from mesoderm cell precursors, and from neovascularization, although discussions are not always precise. The first vessels in the developing embryo form through vasculogenesis, after which angiogenesis is responsible for most, if not all, blood vessel growth during development and in disease.
Vascular endothelial growth factor, originally known as vascular permeability factor (VPF), is a signal protein produced by many cells that stimulates the formation of blood vessels. To be specific, VEGF is a sub-family of growth factors, the platelet-derived growth factor family of cystine-knot growth factors. They are important signaling proteins involved in both vasculogenesis and angiogenesis.
An angiogenesis inhibitor is a substance that inhibits the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). Some angiogenesis inhibitors are endogenous and a normal part of the body's control and others are obtained exogenously through pharmaceutical drugs or diet.
Moses Judah Folkman was an American medical scientist best known for his research on tumor angiogenesis, the process by which a tumor attracts blood vessels to nourish itself and sustain its existence. He founded the field of angiogenesis research, which has led to the discovery of a number of therapies based on inhibiting or stimulating neovascularization.
Axel Ullrich is a German cancer researcher and has been the director of the molecular biology department at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany since 1988. This department's research has primarily focused on signal transduction. Ullrich has received Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence, awarded by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences, Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2008 and Ullrich and his team received the Wolf Prize in 2010.
Atiprimod is a substance being studied in the treatment of certain multiple myelomas and other advanced cancers. It may block the growth of tumors and the growth of blood vessels from surrounding tissue to the tumor. This drug is also being researched as a potential treatment for various autoimmune diseases. It was first developed by GlaxoSmithKline as a potential treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. The substance is also known as azaspirane, although this more properly refers to the class of chemicals to which atiprimod belongs.
George Wilding was the director of the UW Carbone Cancer Center and Anderson Professor of Clinical Oncology of the Department of Medicine of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and an internationally recognized leader and clinician in the fields of oxidative stress and prostate cancer prevention and therapy. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal “The Prostate”.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), headquartered in Santa Monica, California, funds research into the prevention and cure of prostate cancer.
Napoleone Ferrara, is an Italian-American molecular biologist who joined University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center in 2013 after a career in Northern California at the biotechnology giant Genentech, where he pioneered the development of new treatments for angiogenic diseases such as cancer, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and diabetic retinopathy. At Genentech, he discovered VEGF—and made the first anti-VEGF antibody—which suppresses growth of a variety of tumors. These findings helped lead to development of the first clinically available angiogenesis inhibitor, bevacizumab (Avastin), which prevents the growth of new blood vessels into a solid tumor and which has become part of standard treatment for a variety of cancers. Ferrara's work led also to the development of ranibizumab (Lucentis), a drug that is highly effective at preventing vision loss in intraocular neovascular disorders.
Pomalidomide, sold under the brand names Pomalyst and Imnovid, is an anti-cancer medication used for the treatment of multiple myeloma and AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma.
Metastatic breast cancer, also referred to as metastases, advanced breast cancer, secondary tumors, secondaries or stage IV breast cancer, is a stage of breast cancer where the breast cancer cells have spread to distant sites beyond the axillary lymph nodes. There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer; there is no stage after IV.
Hope & Heroes is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) in New York City. Hope & Heroes supports the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology & Stem Cell Transplantation at Columbia University Medical Center. Hope & Heroes funds work on childhood cancer and blood disorders at Columbia University Medical Center—including research, support for families, and care.
Cancer can be treated by surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy and synthetic lethality, most commonly as a series of separate treatments. The choice of therapy depends upon the location and grade of the tumor and the stage of the disease, as well as the general state of the patient. Cancer genome sequencing helps in determining which cancer the patient exactly has for determining the best therapy for the cancer. A number of experimental cancer treatments are also under development. Under current estimates, two in five people will have cancer at some point in their lifetime.
Paul Workman is a British scientist noted for his work on the discovery and development of pharmaceutical agents in the field of oncology. He is President and CEO of The Institute of Cancer Research In London.
David Henry Gorski is an American surgical oncologist and professor of surgery at Wayne State University School of Medicine. He specializes in breast cancer surgery at the Karmanos Cancer Institute. Gorski is an outspoken skeptic and critic of alternative medicine and the anti-vaccination movement. A prolific blogger, he writes as Orac at Respectful Insolence, and as himself at Science-Based Medicine where he is the managing editor.
Gold nanoparticles in chemotherapy and radiotherapy is the use of colloidal gold in therapeutic treatments, often for cancer or arthritis. Gold nanoparticle technology shows promise in the advancement of cancer treatments. Some of the properties that gold nanoparticles possess, such as small size, non-toxicity and non-immunogenicity make these molecules useful candidates for targeted drug delivery systems. With tumor-targeting delivery vectors becoming smaller, the ability to by-pass the natural barriers and obstacles of the body becomes more probable. To increase specificity and likelihood of drug delivery, tumor specific ligands may be grafted onto the particles along with the chemotherapeutic drug molecules, to allow these molecules to circulate throughout the tumor without being redistributed into the body.
Hua Eleanor Yu is the inaugural Billy and Audrey L. Wilder Professor in tumor immunotherapy at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California. In addition, she co-leads the Cancer Immunotherapeutics Program at the City of Hope cancer center, with Dr. Peter P. Lee. Dr. Yu's laboratory was the first to identify STAT3, a protein that helps to protect tumor cells from the immune system. Her group is developing possible drug treatments using CpG-Stat3 siRNA to attack tumor cells in mice and humans.
Yihai Cao, M.D., hM. D., Ph.D., is a Chinese-born Swedish scientist and a professor at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. He is also an honorary professor/guest professor in Copenhagen University, Denmark; Linköping University, Sweden; Leicester University, UK; Shinshu University, Japan; Shandong University, China; and Peking University, China. He is an internationally recognized and cited researcher in cancer, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and eye disease research. His publications have been cited more than 35000 times and his h-index is 92. Cao received the Fernström research prize, the Karolinska distinguished professor award, and the Axel Hirsch Prize in medicine. Cao received an ERC-advanced research grant award, and a Novo Nordisk-advanced grant award. From 2018, Cao was elected to Academia Europaea, the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Inventors, and The World Academy of Sciences. His research findings received broad public attentions including New York Times, Reuters and Swedish National TV broad casting.
The host response to cancer therapy is defined as a physiological response of the non-malignant cells of the body to a specific cancer therapy. The response is therapy-specific, occurring independently of cancer type or stage.
Metronomic therapy is a new type of chemotherapy in which anti-cancer drugs are administered in a lower dose than the maximum tolerated dose repetitively over a long period to treat cancers with fewer side effects. Metronomic therapy is shown to affect both tumor microenvironment and tumor cells to achieve its therapeutic effects. Metronomic therapy is also cost-effective as a lower dose is used compared to conventional chemotherapy. The use of metronomic therapy has been extensively investigated and can be advantageous in selected group of patients. Yet, more clinical trials are necessary to generalize the method.
