Tumor Vascularization (Angiogenesis)

[M4Y0U]

In order to develop, a tumor activates the proliferation of blood vessels. Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing blood vessels. This phenomenon is essential for the survival of cancer cells. Once a tumor has reached 1mm in size, the cells in the center of the tumor die due to lack of oxygen and nutrients. The formation of new blood vessels permits the tumor to continue growing. It has now been established that the aggressive growth of a tumor and the formation of metastases are directly dependent upon angiogenesis. An anti-angiogenesis approach to cancer therapy is therefore of great interest. Richard Béliveau's team laboratory is currently studying 3 aspects of tumor angiogenesis: The regulation of signalling pathways dependant upon vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) known to be activated upon angiogenesis and tumor invasion and finally, the identification, through proteomics, of endothelial proteins associated with tumor growth.

[M4Y0U]

Hehe yeah some people think genetic is only used for artificial selection or have predeterminism thinking which is so untrue! I have the base knowledge in genetics ( I'm more pure bio and chemistry without extansive knowledge in genetics ) but even with basic genetics knowledge you know it's not just about artificial selection. Genetics is playing a role in cancer by extensive knowledge about genetic mutations in the mitochondrions and knowing more about what's going on in the mitochondrial diseases. One interesting thing you guys can look up is Bruce Lipton works. Now this is interesting biology and more adapted to modern life and the crisis we are in now. Bruce Lipton - The Wisdom of Your Cell ( audio lecture kind of stuff )  if very interesting stuff.

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Oh man I heard about this like a month or two ago on NOVA Science Now I think and never thought about posting it here as a new treatment.  It's also like ILADVOCATE was talking about, they also touched upon using genetics to determine who will develop diseases and have this thing that tells you the probability of you developing a huge list of conditions but they explained it's a really complicated thing and you can't just look at GENE A for example and be all like OH CANCER HERE because it's a bunch of different factors really including a combination of genes.  My supervisor says he doesn't believe in genetics because short people will have a tall kid and such and I tried to explain to him the mechanics of recessive genes and such but he didn't get it.

[M4Y0U]

Yes i agree with you on your last words that genetic research will and is playing a crucial role in the development of new treatments. The only things i don't like about the human genome project and the link with treatments is the copyright issues. They are patenting genes to sell them to the pharmacology industry for them to develop new treatments. I find it ridiculous and there's and this is an ethical debate that needs to be addressed. I think such patenting is might scares some researchers and delays the development of new treatments. But yes in fact it is a promising domain.

By the way, have you ever had botox injection for your dystonia? Any signs of cervical dystonia? Sorry to make you talk about it if you don't like it.

[ILADVOCATE]

Yes this was what I was mentioning. I had read articles on it as well. One difficulty is the extreme variation in how different forms of cancer proliferate. An aunt of mine when I was a child died from a lingering and unpleasent death of breast cancer that wasn't treated until it was too late. However, her daughter who is a cousin of mine in getting the yearly mammogram picked up that she was developing this and had a lumpectomy and hasn't had signs of it since then. However, on a side of the family that is not directly related to me, there is a genetic pre-disposition to Kaposi's sarcoma. Everyone who develops it can do little to have it stopped but its growth is slow but causes an eventual fatality.  
   What is more essential to understand is the exact genetics of each type of cancer. For example, I have a cousin with Rett's Syndrome (which is not cancer but a rare developmental disability that causes severe physical disabilities as well and limits a person's life until their 30's). However, they are born without any signs of it. The reason was found in genetic testing that like cancer, a gene is activated that shouldn't be. So as with cancer the most promising way to stop it would be direct genetic intervention but so far of course there have been no successful results outside of tentative studies in the animal model. That doesn't mean its not possible within clinical science. The anti-convulsant Vimpat was showing some promise in the animal model for tardive dyskinesia and because I didn't respond to any known treatments was tried on me after I researched it on the web and my providers found it to be safe. After its efficacy was shown in me they most probably will write up a case study on it. The reason I have such extreme tardive dyskinesia was because Lamictal worsened a form of focal dystonia that was diagnosed until now. However, no one else in my family has that so it must have been a genetic mutation. I would say genetic research once clinically understood will be the most promising area of research and development.