RECIPIENT OF THE KIMBERLY LAWRENCE NETTER GENE THERAPY BREAST CANCER AWARD

Seeking A New Target For Cancer Treatment
Since most human tumors must recruit new blood vessels in order to grow and move, anti-angiogenic therapies have been viewed as a potential complement to more traditional cancer treatments. We have identified a genetic element that allows genes to be expressed in a group of bone marrow derived cells that contribute to cancer-associated blood vessels. The cells are called "endothelial cell precursors" (ECPs). ECPs are a special type of stem cell that play a role in the formation of new blood vessels. We propose to create a simple virus designed to carry genes to ECPs and prevent them from helping tumors to grow.

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