Word: dvorak
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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DIED. Ann Dvorak, 67, brunette film star of the '30s and '40s who debuted as Paul Muni's sister in the 1932 gangland classic Scarface; of cancer; in Honolulu. The smoky-voiced Dvorak was best known for playing suffering, hard-luck women opposite such stars as James Cagney (The Crowd Roars), Dick Powell (College Coach) and Spencer Tracy (Sky Devils...
Another approach would be to find a substance that breaks down the cocoon from the outside, allowing the immune cells to get at the tumor. A third tactic that Dvorak and his colleagues are planning to explore is the production of antibodies against the tumor's own chemicals...
There is one caveat in these strategies: all could possibly interfere with healing processes in normal tissue and lead to serious bleeding. But, says Dvorak, some bleeding might be less dangerous than many of the destructive anticancer drugs and radiation treatments now being used...
...that early in their development, tumors secrete three powerful chemicals that promote formation of a protective shield of fibrin gel around them. One substance encourages nearby blood vessels to leak plasma; another turns fibrinogen, a plasma constitutent, into fibrin; the third diverts immune cells away from the growing shield. Dvorak speculates that the tumor's chemical weaponry is so sophisticated that the fibrin itself encourages growth of blood vessels in the vicinity of the tumor, providing the malignant cells with a nourishing blood supply. As it enlarges, the tumor appears to secrete a fourth chemical that dissolves the shell...
...this biochemical wizardry, the tumor has in effect duped the body into regarding it as a wound to be healed rather than as a lethal intruder. Says Dvorak: "The tumor is a sophisticated and subtle parasite that uses the host's own defense mechanism against the host...