Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center researchers have
published new findings that may help explain why brain tumors
called glioblastomas are so resistant to treatment. The team
showed for the first time that a tumor could generate its own
blood vessels from tumor stem cells, and also that the blood
vessels that enable glioblastoma to grow and spread are
themselves cancerous and therefore don’t behave like normal
blood vessels. Glioblastomas are one of the most aggressive
types of tumor. Advances in technology have made it possible for
many more of them to be surgically removed, but when the tumors
recur there are few treatment options. Because these tumors are
characterized by having a large number of blood vessels that
feed them, experts predicted antiangiogenic drugs such as
bevacizumab (Avastin®), which target blood vessels, would be an
effective treatment, but so far studies have proven
disappointing. “Since I was in medical school I’ve wondered why
the blood vessels in glioblastoma look so unusual. The