Growth Factor Linked to Tumor Blood Vessel Formation

Developing a method to prevent tumors from creating new blood vessels by the process of angiogenesis is one of the hottest topics in cancer research today.

As a part of these efforts, investigators from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hills, USA) have described in detail a growth factor involved in angiogenesis. This protein, SFRP2 (secreted frizzled-related protein 2), is found in the blood vessels of numerous tumor sites, including breast, prostate, lung, pancreas, ovarian, colon, and kidney tumors and angiosarcomas. The SFRP family contains a cysteine-rich domain homologous to the putative Wnt-binding site of Frizzled proteins. SFRPs act as soluble modulators of Wnt signaling, and methylation of this gene is a potential marker for the presence of colorectal cancer.

Results published in the June 1, 2009, issue of the journal Cancer Research confirmed that SFRP2 was a potent stimulant of angiogenesis. The authors predicted that SFRP2 could be the target of a new generation of drugs designed to prevent new blood vessel formation that would block tumors from receiving vital nutrients.

"The discovery that SFRP2 stimulates angiogenesis and is present in blood vessels of a wide variety of tumors provides us with a new target for drug design,” said senior author Dr. Nancy Klauber-DeMore, associate professor of surgery at the University of North Carolina.

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