A cancer drug for Glioma
Source: Science Daily
Wikipedia
I just got this news from Science Daily. It is really interesting. The researchers at Duke University Medical Centre have found out that Avastin, an anti-angiogenic drug is able to prolong the survival of brain tumour patients.
The research was done by treating the patients this drug along with a chemotherapic agent called Irinotecan . It was found that the life span of the patients increased by three more months compared to the ordinary chemotherapic treatments. This result, they say, is very significant because the prognosis of the glioma is very grim. In such cases, an additional three months is certainly a boost for the patients.
Some facts about Glioma
A Glioma is a tumour formed in the Central Nervous System which includes the Brain and the Spinal Cord.
It usually arises from the glial cells from which the name has come.Glial cells are cells which support and protect the neurons. Usually the tumour arises behind the blood-brain barrier making it difficult to access it. Hence doctors find it hard to target the tumour using drugs since the blood-brain barrier prevents the passage of many substances including the drugs.
It is this reason that gliomas are hard to cure and the survival percentage is very low.
Some facts about Angiogenesis
Angiogenesis is basically formation of new blood vessels from existing ones.
It is very signifcant in cancer because cancer cells usually grow and proliferate faster than normal cells. Hence the food supply by the normal blood vessels is not adequate. So the cancer cells form 'extra' blood vessels inorder to have a continuous supply of food materials.
Now back to the news...
As I had stated before, Avastin is an anti-angiogenic drug. So how does it work? It acts on the new blood vessels formed by the tumours and prevents blood flow to them. In other words, it 'chokes' the cancer cells slowing down its growth and spreading and thus prolonging the survival of the patients.
Wikipedia
I just got this news from Science Daily. It is really interesting. The researchers at Duke University Medical Centre have found out that Avastin, an anti-angiogenic drug is able to prolong the survival of brain tumour patients.
The research was done by treating the patients this drug along with a chemotherapic agent called Irinotecan . It was found that the life span of the patients increased by three more months compared to the ordinary chemotherapic treatments. This result, they say, is very significant because the prognosis of the glioma is very grim. In such cases, an additional three months is certainly a boost for the patients.
Some facts about Glioma
A Glioma is a tumour formed in the Central Nervous System which includes the Brain and the Spinal Cord.
It usually arises from the glial cells from which the name has come.Glial cells are cells which support and protect the neurons. Usually the tumour arises behind the blood-brain barrier making it difficult to access it. Hence doctors find it hard to target the tumour using drugs since the blood-brain barrier prevents the passage of many substances including the drugs.
It is this reason that gliomas are hard to cure and the survival percentage is very low.
Some facts about Angiogenesis
Angiogenesis is basically formation of new blood vessels from existing ones.
It is very signifcant in cancer because cancer cells usually grow and proliferate faster than normal cells. Hence the food supply by the normal blood vessels is not adequate. So the cancer cells form 'extra' blood vessels inorder to have a continuous supply of food materials.
Now back to the news...
As I had stated before, Avastin is an anti-angiogenic drug. So how does it work? It acts on the new blood vessels formed by the tumours and prevents blood flow to them. In other words, it 'chokes' the cancer cells slowing down its growth and spreading and thus prolonging the survival of the patients.
1 comment:
Very interesting!
It's amazing how much science advances... especially as mankind learns more about how we can create our own reality and shifts in consciousness.
Thank you for your passionate research.
Angela.
http://www.spiritualityselfhelp.com/
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