Word: fibrin
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...discovery by Pathologists Harold and Ann Dvorak, along with W. Hallowell Churchill of Boston's Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, results from three years of work with guinea pigs. It is based on two vital clues provided by earlier investigators: first, some tumors have nearby deposits of fibrin, the substance of blood clots, which prevents further bleeding after injury; second, tumors are often associated with slight, local hemorrhaging. Using sophisticated microscopy techniques, the Boston researchers began looking at the point where the tumor meets healthy tissue. Explains Harold Dvorak: "That would have to be the battlefield on which they fought...
What the team found was 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...
...theory is still far from proved, but it could have important consequences. If human tumors turn out to work in the same way, more effective strategies against cancer could be developed. One possibility is already being tried by specialists: administering anti-clotting drugs to prevent fibrin deposits...