膵がんを代表とする難治がんに対する治療法の開発を進めるために

I entered "Cancer Research Field" from the research on angiogenesis. VEGF has been identified as the most important stimulator of angiogenesis, and VEGF-targeting treatments are now widespread for cancer treatment. The main effect of VEGF inhibition seems not to be the initial thought of starvation attack but the normalization (maturation) of abnormal (immature) tumor blood vessels to make it easier for the delivery of anticancer drugs. And such treatment does not work for pancreatic cancer. I discovered VASH2 aiming to conduct my own original research, and since angiogenesis was my research theme, I have been studying from the viewpoint of tumor angiogenesis. But the effect of VASH2 inhibition is clear even in pancreatic cancer where VEGF inhibition does not work. The action of VASH2 is not limited to angiogenesis but is diverse, and although VASH2 inhibition suppressed tumor angiogenesis, I discovered its main effect as the direct inhibition of infiltration and metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells themselves. This has been confirmed in several different experimental systems, and I am now confident that the VASH2 targeting therapy is truly effective against the most malignant pancreatic cancer.