Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles
Stretch Mark Remedies

In Men, Insomnia With Objective Short Sleep Duration Is Associated With Increased Mortality
Men with insomnia and sleep duration of six or fewer hours of nightly sleep are at an increased risk for mortality, according to a research abstract presented on June 8, at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies
generic viagra online
Donate Your Old Jewellery For A Good Cause, Diabetes UK
Diabetes UK is asking you to donate your unwanted or broken jewellery and accessories to our jewellery appeal.
News of the day
BMA Scotland GP Leader Calls On Scottish Government To Listen, Support And Work With GPs To Help Improve Patient Care
As GPs across the UK gathered in London for the Annual Conference of Local Medical Committees, Dr Dean Marshall, chairman of the BMA"s Scottish General Practitioners Committee, slammed the government for trying to strip GPs of funding and called for the profession to make decisions about general practice, not civil servants.
Oncology

Growth Factor Identified As Possible Cancer Drug Target By UNC Scientists

To grow and spread, tumors need new blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis. One growth factor that causes angiogenesis has been identified - vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF - and drugs to inhibit VEGF are already in use. But not all tumors respond to the therapy initially or over the long term. Thus new growth factors need to be identified to aid in developing the next generation of angiogenesis inhibitors. Scientists at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center report finding a new angiogenesis protein, SFRP2, found in the blood vessels of numerous tumor sites, including breast, prostate, lung, pancreas, ovarian, colon, kidney tumors, and angiosarcomas. The scientists found that SFRP2 is a potent stimulator of angiogenesis. This protein may be a favorable target for inhibiting angiogenesis which would then "starve" the tumor of its blood supply, thus destroying the cancer. "The discovery that SFRP2 stimulates angiogenesis and is present in blood vessels of a wide variety of tumors provides us with a new target for drug design," said Nancy Klauber-DeMore, M.D., senior author. The study was published online in the journal Cancer Research. Klauber-DeMore is associate professor of surgery and a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Based on the UNC-led team"s understanding of how this protein works in the blood vessels, scientists successfully utilized a drug, tacrolimus, which is commonly used to prevent organ transplant rejection, to inhibit the growth of angiosarcoma in pre-clinical studies. Angiosarcoma is a highly aggressive cancer that begins in the cells lining the blood or lymph vessels for which options for therapy are limited. Klauber-DeMore, as part of her medical training, completed a surgical research fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Judah Folkman at Children"s Hospital in Boston. Folkman founded the field of angiogenesis research. Kaluber-DeMore worked with colleagues at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Carolina Cardiovascular Biology Center, and the Department of Dermatology at Emory University School of Medicine and the Atlanta VA Medical Center. Dianne Shaw University of North Carolina School of Medicine


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009