Substance Produced by Body Spurs Skin Cancers, Researchers Report

Vascular engothelial growth factor, or VEGF--a naturally occurring substance that stimulates the growth of blood vessels--also spurs the growth of Kaposi’s sarcoma and other types of cancer, according to new research by Dr. Parkash Gill of the USC Medical School. Gill reported in the Feb. 4 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that VEGF levels are high in cells from Kaposi’s tumors, and that the tumor cells contain very high numbers of VEGF receptors, even though normal skin cells from the same patient do not.

Gill also demonstrated that antisense nucleotides--synthetic chemicals that block the cell’s ability to read the VEGF gene--inhibit cell growth in Kaposi’s tumors in animals. The research could prove applicable to a broad variety of cancers.