|
|
Cancer Warrior
|
|
|
|
Program Overview
|
|
|
Treating cancer with traditional chemotherapy usually involves
strong poisons that kill normal cells as well as cancer cells, often
causing debilitating side effects. In this NOVA, meet one researcher
who has developed a drug that, if successful, could profoundly
change the way cancer is treated.
The program:
-
presents two cancer patients who participated in the first Phase
I clinical trials for the new drug, Endostatin.
-
describes the initial experiment in which Dr. Judah Folkman
accidentally observed an important connection between tumor
growth and blood vessels.
-
explores Dr. Folkman's early theory that a tumor actually
secretes some "factor" that stimulates new blood vessel growth.
Those blood vessels bring nutrition to the tumor, remove waste
products, and enable the tumor to grow.
-
chronicles the resistance Dr. Folkman encountered from the
scientific community.
-
shows the difficult process of finding single protein molecules
that stimulate angiogenesis—thereby proving Dr. Folkman's
original theory.
-
examines the decades-long process of searching for
anti-angiogenesis agents that block new blood vessel
growth—including Thalidomide, Angiostatin, Endostatin, and
others.
-
offers hope that Endostatin may help manage cancer in the
future.
|
|
