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Pathology:
Cancer cells compress intratumour vessels
Timothy
P. Padera, Brian R. Stoll, Jessica B. Tooredman, Diane Capen, Emmanuelle Di
Tomaso & Rakesh K. Jain
Edwin
L. Steele Laboratory, Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General
Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. jain@steele.mgh.harvard.edu
The
delivery of therapeutic drugs to solid tumours may be impaired by structural and
functional abnormalities in blood and lymphatic vessels.
Here we provide evidence that proliferating cancer cells cause intratumour
vessels to compress and collapse.
By reducing this compressive mechanical force and opening vessels, cytotoxic
cancer treatments have the potential to increase blood perfusion, thereby
improving drug delivery.
©
2004 Nature Publishing Group
Source: http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v427/n6976/abs/427695a_fs.html
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