Using their inducible mouse model, Chin and her colleagues turned on the melanoma trigger gene, Ras, in adult mice and waited 60 days for other mutations to accumulate. Twenty-five percent of the mice developed melanomas. The researchers then switched off the Ras gene in those mice. To our surprise, the cancers completely regressed. Upon closer examination, it appeared the blood vessel cells surrounding the tumor were dying.
Tumor cells tell the host to provide a blood supply.
But she believes that deciphering the signal sent by Ras to the host could lead to alternative therapies for cancer. For example, it may be possible to design small molecules that interfere with that signal at various points, thereby halting blood vessel growth and, with it, the growth of tumors. Every breath is labored during a flare of asthma, as if the patient is breathing through a small straw with the weight of bricks on his chest. In otherwise rambunctious children, asthma is particularly debilitating. In a prospective study on repeated wheeze, Diane Gold, assistant professor of medicine, and colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital, HSPH, and HMS give insight into what might cause wheeze in infants.