Calendar
Taming Tumor Vessels for Cancer Treatment: From Bench to Bedside and Back
March 25, 2008 (3:30PM - 4:30PM)
- Speaker: Rakesh K. Jain (Harvard Medical School's Department of Radiation Oncology)
- Location: 102 DeBartolo
Blood vessels of tumors are abnormal – not only in their structure, but also in their function. This abnormality contributes directly to malignant properties of a cancer as well as prevents treatments from reaching and attacking tumor cells. Dr. Jain proposed a novel concept that “normalizing” tumor vessels would allow cancer therapies to penetrate the mass and to function more effectively. He then went on to show in animals and cancer patients, that drugs originally deigned to destroy tumor vessels can, paradoxically, also repair them, creating a window of opportunity to attack the cancer most effectively. This concept is also opening doors to treating other vascular disorders, such as macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the United States.
