Tumors have the ability to produce their own blood vessels

2011/01/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Anatomia/Fisiologia
• Farmakologia
• Medikuntza

This explains why some anticancer drugs are ineffective

According to a study conducted in the United States and Italy, tumors feed not only on host blood vessels, but also on the blood vessels they produce. The finding has been published in the journal Nature and is useful to explain why some drugs were expected to not be as effective as expected.

About 40 years ago, biologist Judah Folkman proposed that tumors depended on the blood vessels around them, and that if that blood supply was interrupted, the tumor could disappear. Thus, one of the antitumor strategies is the inhibition of angiogenesis, that is, the development of drugs that prevent the growth of blood vessels. The first angiogenesis inhibitor, called Bevacizumab, was launched in 2004 and others are under testing. However, both have given worse results in the clinic.

The research that has now been published has helped to understand the reason. Researchers have identified blood vessels that grow directly from cancer cells. Both groups have studied a type of brain cancer, glioblastoma, and found that cells in the blood vessels present had genetic characteristics of cancer cells. It has been concluded that the origin of blood vessels was the tumor itself.

However, researchers have not stayed there and have delved into research. Of the tumors have taken cells with stem cell characteristics and have grown in vitro. In addition, they have introduced these cells into the brain of mice. And in both cases they have seen that they have created blood vessels. Moreover, they have shown that inhibitors like Bevacizumaba have no ability to influence this mechanism.

Researchers believe that angiogenesis inhibitors should not be stopped, but that henceforth they will have to take into account the ability of tumors to form blood vessels.