Oxygen supports the life of all aerobic organisms and virtually every cell type is capable of sensing decreased tissue oxygenation, known as hypoxia. Hypoxic microenvironments have been detected within developing solid tumors as a result of insufficient host vascular delivery of oxygen and nutrients. Consequently, the formation of solid tumors requires the coordination of angiogenesis: the recruitment of blood vessels for the purpose of tumor vascularization. Furthermore, clinical and experimental evidence have demonstrated that hypoxic cells in solid tumors can limit the efficacy of standard anticancer therapeutics including radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Low oxygenation can also accelerate malignant progression and metastasis resulting in poorer prognosis irrespective of the chosen treatment regiment.
It is the focus of our research to improve our understanding of the molecular events that support the development of tumor cell resistance to hypoxia as a tool for the discovery of effective therapeutics that can specifically and effectively target hypoxic tumors. Understanding exactly how tumor cells adapt to transient hypoxia could lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets that in combination therapy with current anticancer treatments could help reduce the incidence of morbidity and mortality from cancer.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/29388 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Blais, Jaime D |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 211 p. |
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