International Cancer Scientists to Gather at Mayo Clinic

Monday, October 23, 2006

Hundreds of physicians and cancer investigators will gather in Rochester later this month to hear from some top leaders in their field. More than 200 clinicians and researchers are expected to attend the 2nd Mayo Clinic Angiogenesis Symposium, Oct. 27-29.

Angiogenesis is the specific growth of new blood vessels to accommodate tumor growth and the spread of many cancers.

Symposium speakers include Harvard researcher Judah Folkman, M.D., the first to argue and then prove that angiogenesis was necessary for tumor growth. Another key speaker is Robert Kerbel, Ph.D., of the University of Toronto, who showed that cancer cells can mutate to survive with less oxygen. The two are among more than 25 guest presenters at the symposium, which promises to premiere cutting-edge advances.

In 1971, Dr. Folkman published in the New England Journal of Medicine his hypothesis that the growth of all tumors was dependent on angiogenesis. Three decades of controversy ensued, not only over his ideas, but also over the drugs based on them. Recently, research on medications developed in China appears to be validating his findings. In fact, one can't talk about angiogenesis without mentioning Dr. Folkman because he invented the term. When he and colleagues observed tumor growth in mice in the early 1960s, they noticed that very thin blood vessels developed to support the tumors. His description, angiogenesis, means birth of blood vessels.

Dr. Kerbel is one of the foremost cancer scientists in Canada. His pioneering studies of anti-angiogenesis drugs revealed that they can become less effective because cancer cells mutate to cope with oxygen depletion caused by the drugs. The cancer cells then re-grow. However, his work suggested the anti-angiogenesis drugs may work better when combined with drugs that directly target the cancer cells. Dr. Kerbel was awarded the Robert L. Noble Prize in 2004 by the National Cancer Institute of Canada. He is currently working on more effective ways to administer chemotherapy.

The Mayo Clinic Angiogenesis Symposium is an opportunity to hear some of the best science from the best scientists before it appears in journals. Media interviews will be available. ###

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