Home » Fighting cancer by “starving it”. A new mechanism has been discovered in Pavia

Fighting cancer by “starving it”. A new mechanism has been discovered in Pavia

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Starving tumors by targeting the blood vessels that feed them has long been one of the strategies for fighting cancer. However, the results so far have been quite modest because cancer is able to find other ways and so-called resistance to therapy develops. Today, however, we could be facing a turning point in the development of more effective drugs. Claudia Ghigna’s team from the Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza Institute of Molecular Genetics of the National Research Council of Pavia (Cnr-Igm) has in fact discovered a particular variant of a protein produced exclusively by tumor blood vessels: a molecule that could turn out to be a good prognostic and therapeutic marker. The study, supported by the Airc Foundation, was published in Nature Communications.

The protein variant

The Pavia researchers, together with colleagues from other Italian and foreign institutes, have identified a form never seen before of the UNC5B protein, calling it UNC5B-Δ8. This protein variant is produced exclusively by the cells that form the wall of the blood vessels that carry nutrients to the tumors.

It is formed through a mechanism called splicing alternativo, that is “a so-called ‘cut and sew’ mechanism, which allows the bricks that form human genes to be assembled in various ways and, as a consequence, to generate different proteins starting from the same initial mold”, explains Ghigna: “This new variant contributes to making cancer more aggressive and represents a new tumor marker and possible molecular target ”.

Starve the tumor

Blood vessels are essential for the survival of any organ or tissue, including tumors: they exchange respiratory gases and carry nutrients. The process by which they are formed, called angiogenesis, is therefore the subject of numerous studies. By blocking tumor angiogenesis, in fact, it is hoped to send the tumor into suffering by stopping its progression and decreasing the possibility of metastasis, and perhaps reducing its size and making it more vulnerable to the action of chemotherapy. “From the study of angiogenesis, therapies have emerged that can stop or reverse the tumor, blocked in the formation of blood vessels and thus deprived of oxygen and nutrients,” adds Ghigna. Unfortunately, so far these therapies have shown modest results in patients, who often develop resistance mechanisms. More information on the blood vessels that feed the tumor is therefore essential to make these therapeutic approaches more effective ”.

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The UNC5B-Δ8 protein variant is produced solely by blood vessel cells, especially those associated with more aggressive tumors with a less favorable prognosis. “This variant therefore – concludes the researcher – offers an excellent diagnostic and prognostic tool, which could be exploited both as a new marker of tumor angiogenesis, and as a possible molecular target for more effective anti-cancer therapies”.

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