World-first discovery could help treat life-threaten...( WA researchers investigating how blo...),Health

WA researchers investigating how blood vessel growth keeps cancers alive have made a world-first discovery that could boost the chances of successfully treating life-threatening tumours.

Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) Associate Professor Ruth Ganss and her team have found that a gene called RGS5 can reverse angiogenesis the growth of blood vessels inside the tumour.

The discovery is published in the most recent edition of Nature, one of the worlds most prestigious scientific journals.

Its the uncontrolled growth of blood vessels and the formation of abnormal blood vessels inside tumours that feed them, allowing them to grow and stopping the immune system from wiping out the tumour, said Associate Professor Ganss.

What weve shown is that RGS5 is a master gene in angiogenesis and that when it is removed, angiogenesis reverses and the blood vessels in tumours appear more normal.

Importantly, this normalisation changes the tumour environment in a way that improves immune cell entry, meaning tumours can be destroyed and improving survival rates in laboratory tests.

Reversing abnormal vessel growth represents a fresh approach to tackling angiogenesis, with most current research focusing on how to block or kill tumour-feeding blood vessels.

Weve long-suspected this research would deliver advances in knowledge about what impacts tumour growth and this publication recognises the innovation and importance of our work, said Associate Professor Ganss.

By understanding what is actually going on in the tumour itself, the ultimate hope is that well be able to work on making current therapeutic approaches even more successful and reducing side effects of them.

Associate Professor Ganss breakthrough comes after joining WAIMR from Heidelberg where she worked at the German Cancer Research Center. Last month, The Cancer Council Western Australia granted Associate Professo
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