How is Tempostatin relevant to cancer?
Cancer begins as a small, local collection of cells with abnormal growth properties. The disease becomes life threatening when cancer cells obtain the ability to invade local tissue and disseminate into remote areas of the body (metastasis). To survive and grow, cancer cells depend on stromal cells and on the stromal repair mechanism. Cancer cells exploit this mechanism to induce a stromal response that leads to the construction of new blood vessels (angiogenesis), providing tumors with a continuously replenished biological infrastructure they can employ to become generalized lethal diseases. By preventing the generation of tumor stroma, Tempostatin interferes with the interaction between tumor cells and stromal cells and deprive tumors of the biological infrastructure they need to grow and survive. Additionally, Tempostatin has a direct cytoreductive effect on a specific subset of tumors. Exposure of these tumor cells to Tempostatin results in programmed cell death (apoptosis). This s
