Tumor cells, like every other
cell in the human body, require the nutrients and oxygen carried
through the blood in order to survive. It has been proven that
if we stop the blood supply to tumor cells by preventing the formation
of new blood vessels or “angiogenesis”, tumors can shrink and thereby
prolong the life of patients with cancer. Currently, only a few
“anti-angiogenic” drugs are used in the clinic for the treatment
of tumor growth. Since, “angiogenesis” is essential in other organ
systems (e.g. kidneys) and processes (e.g. wound healing), many
“anti-angiogenic” drugs carry side-effects. These side-effects
not only cause discomfort for patients but also prevent the maximum
drug dose to be given. Instead, these drugs are given in amounts
that cause “acceptable” discomfort and not in the amounts that
would result in optimal “anti-angiogenic” action. The focus of
my PhD in the Nagy lab and now my interest as a postdoc, therefore, is to improve upon the properties of existing
anti-angiogenic drugs. My aim is to develop “smart- molecules”
that can either stick into the tumor or travel through the blood
and preferentially home to the tumor site. Thus, my expectation
is that these molecules will be able to stop tumor progression
without causing any side-effects when they were tested in animal
models.
Nagy lab
Cre
database
on demand
Iacovos Michael, pdf - (iacovos<at>lunenfeld.ca)