Mechanisms of cardiovascular disease and cancer give clues to new...(of collaboration between these two medic...)

Date:11/21/2008

of collaboration between these two medical research fields spawned by the ESF workshop and similar events elsewhere in the world. But until recently the role of endothelins had been studied mostly in the context of cardiovascular disease rather than cancer, according to M. Giovanna Trivella, the ESF workshop's convenor from the Institute of Clinical Physiology at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) in Pisa.

Conversely, angiogenesis, which is the sprouting of new blood vessels from existing ones, has been studied mostly for its role in tumour growth, and not so much as a possible therapy for heart disease by developing new blood vessels to replace existing damaged ones. Yet the same underlying molecular pathways are at work in both cases, with great potential for synergy between the two research camps.

The workshop also heard how the overlap between cancer and cardiovascular disease was not of concern purely for research and development of new therapies, but also had practical considerations for immediate treatment now. "Many patients who receive chemotherapies develop heart failure symptoms, and the cardiologists have to interact with the oncology (cancer) specialists to make complex therapeutic decisions," said Trivella. So there is already interaction between the two groups out in the hospitals.

There has also been an overlap for some years in the imaging technologies that play a role in studying both types of disease in the laboratory. Positron electron tomography in particular has been used in both fields, producing images of the body region, such as a tumour, under study. "The Positron Electron Tomography Laboratory started years ago has been used to study the field of cardiac microcirculation and ischemic myocardial metabolism, and yet later on it also became a powerful tool in oncological diagnostic procedures," said Trivella.

There is also overlap between cardiovascular disease and cancer at the level of gene exp
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Contact: M.Giovanna Trivella trivella@ifc.cnr.it 39-050-315-2730 European Science Foundation Source:Eurekalert

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