(Vienna, 10-08-2011) – Scientists from the Medical University of Vienna and from Semmelweis University in Budapest have discovered a new mechanism of how new blood vessels can form in tumours. A new cancer treatment option can result from this discovery in the future.
Previously it had been assumed that tumours were only supplied with blood and oxygen through the production of new blood vessels and are thereby “nourished” in this way and can then continue to grow. The last author, Balazs Döme, visiting professor at the MedUni Vienna‘s University Department of Surgery at Vienna General Hospital says, “However it has been proven that this might not be the only option for vascularisation in tumours.“ The scientists examined the creation of new blood vessels under an electron and/or confocal microscope in animal experiments in mice. They discovered a new mechanism in which small capillaries can fold in on themselves and can then duplicate. The mice were treated with the angiogenesis inhibitor Vatalanib in order to inhibit the production of the tumour’s blood vessels. Döme says, “Nevertheless tumours receive a sufficient blood supply from an alternative mechanism, the so-called intussusceptive angiogenesis.“ Treatment Focussed on Vascularisation The study’s results were published in the September edition of the renowned specialist journal “The American Journal of Pathology“. This bodes well for a new anti-cancer treatment in the future. “It is likely that in the future we shall have to focus on treatment with anti-angiogenesis medication for the specific type of vascularisation in the tumour”, says first author, Sandor Paku, from the Semmelweis University in Budapest. Service: “A New Mechanism for Pillar Formation during Tumor-Induced Intussusceptive Angiogenesis,” published in “The American Journal of Pathology”, Volume 179, Issue 3 (September 2011; doi:10.1016/j.ajpath.2011.05.033) (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002944011005323). Authors: Sándor Paku, Katalin Dezsö, Edina Bugyik, József Tóvári, József Tímár, Péter Nagy, Viktoria Laszlo, Walter Klepetko, and Balázs Döme.