Tumour blood vessels supply oxygen and nutrients to cancer cells and provide access to other organs.

While tumour vasculature shares many features with normal vessels, their unique characteristics are potential therapeutic targets.

A recent study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation identifies a tumour vessel-specific protein, L1 that can be targeted to reduce tumour growth.

Using a mouse pancreatic cancer model, Ugo Cavallaro and colleagues at the European Institute of Oncology found that loss of L1 reduced tumour blood vessel formation, which inhibited growth and metastasis.

In patients with pancreatic cancer, L1 was present within tumour blood vessels and not in vessels of healthy tissue.

The results from this study suggest that targeting L1 has potential as a cancer-limiting strategy.

Click here for an interview with Ugo Cavallaro.

References

Elena Magrini et al., Endothelial deficiency of L1 reduces tumour angiogenesis and promotes vessel normalisation, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, August 26, 2014.

Source: The Journal of Clinical Investigation