Cookie Settings

We use cookies to optimize our website. These include cookies that are necessary for the operation of the site, as well as those that are only used for anonymous statistic. You can decide for yourself which categories you want to allow. Further information can be found in our data privacy protection .

Essential

These cookies are necessary to run the core functionalities of this website and cannot be disabled.

Name Webedition CMS
Purpose This cookie is required by the CMS (Content Management System) Webedition for the system to function correctly. Typically, this cookie is deleted when the browser is closed.
Name econda
Purpose Session cookie emos_jcsid for the web analysis software econda. This runs in the “anonymized measurement” mode. There is no personal reference. As soon as the user leaves the site, tracking is ended and all data in the browser are automatically deleted.
Statistics

These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our website by collecting and analyzing information anonymously. Depending on the tool, one or more cookies are set by the provider.

Name econda
Purpose Statistics
External media

Content from external media platforms is blocked by default. If cookies from external media are accepted, access to this content no longer requires manual consent.

Name YouTube
Purpose Show YouTube content
Name Twitter
Purpose activate Twitter Feeds

A Boost for Radiation Therapy

Does a combination of radiation therapy and the inhibition of integrins (key molecules in angiogenesis) improve the chance of cure in cancer?

No. 56 | 18/10/2005 | by (Koh)

An increasing number of cancer patients are cured today by radiation therapy – alone or in combination with surgery or chemotherapy. At the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszen¬trum, DKFZ), scientists of the Clinical Cooperation Unit “Radiation Oncology” headed by Professor Dr. Dr. Peter Huber are identifying ways to further enhance the effectiveness of this type of treatment. The research team is targeting a weak point of the tumor: the formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis.

Once a tumor has reached pinhead size, it needs a supply of blood by blood vessels. If this supply is cut off, tumor growth comes to a halt. To suppress the formation of new blood vessels, integrins are a suitable target. This protein family comprises about 20 members that are involved in cell-cell interaction and regulate contacts with the surrounding protein matrix. Integrins play a key role in the formation of new blood vessels.

The Heidelberg researchers have now tested a combination of radiotherapy and a drug named S247, a substance which specifically inhibits the function of integrins. Investigations in the culture dish have shown that the combination therapy is considerably more effective both against tumor cells and against blood vessel-forming endothelial cells than irradiation alone. The combination approach has also been tested in mice with transplanted human tumors (glioblastoma, skin and prostate cancer). In these experiments, the combined treatment slowed down tumor growth – with no noticeable toxicity – more than twice as much as either of the therapies alone. In addition, tumors in animals treated by the combination approach formed significantly less blood vessels.

The Heidelberg researchers were able to show that the synergistic effect of the combination treatment can be ascribed to the fact that integrin inhibition neutralizes the angiogenesis-promoting effect of radiation. As a survival strategy, endothelial cells respond to radiation by increasing their integrin production. This promotes their invasion of the tumor tissue. The S247 substance counteracts this effect, while at the same time promoting programmed cell of endothelial cells.

The researchers are now working to define the optimum time period between administration of the drug and irradiation. In a next step, they will carry out clinical studies to investigate whether integrin inhibitors also enhance the chances of cure in patients treated for cancer.

Amir Abdollahi et al: Inhibition of αvβ3 Integrin Survival Signaling Enhances Antiangiogenic and Antitumor Effects of Radiotherapy. Clin Cancer Research 11:6270, 2005

With more than 3,000 employees, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) is Germany’s largest biomedical research institute. DKFZ scientists identify cancer risk factors, investigate how cancer progresses and develop new cancer prevention strategies. They are also developing new methods to diagnose tumors more precisely and treat cancer patients more successfully. The DKFZ's Cancer Information Service (KID) provides patients, interested citizens and experts with individual answers to questions relating to cancer.

To transfer promising approaches from cancer research to the clinic and thus improve the prognosis of cancer patients, the DKFZ cooperates with excellent research institutions and university hospitals throughout Germany:

  • National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT, 6 sites)
  • German Cancer Consortium (DKTK, 8 sites)
  • Hopp Children's Cancer Center (KiTZ) Heidelberg
  • Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON Mainz) - A Helmholtz Institute of the DKFZ
  • DKFZ-Hector Cancer Institute at the University Medical Center Mannheim
  • National Cancer Prevention Center (jointly with German Cancer Aid)
The DKFZ is 90 percent financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and 10 percent by the state of Baden-Württemberg. The DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.

RSS-Feed

Subscribe to our RSS-Feed.

to top
powered by webEdition CMS