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NOVA scienceNOW: Profile: Judah Folkman
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Program Overview
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This segment focuses on the late cancer researcher Dr. Judah Folkman
and his pioneering work on the relationship between tumors and the
blood vessels that nourish them.
This NOVA scienceNOW segment:
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points out that Folkman was the first scientist to recognize
that blood vessels are tied to tumor growth. Prior researchers
focused only on the tumor and not the vessels.
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explains that tumors secrete a factor that stimulates the growth
of blood vessels (angiogenesis), and this network of blood
vessels helps sustain the tumors. Eliminating vessels shrinks
tumors.
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describes a famous experiment that Folkman conducted in which he
placed a tumor in a rabbit cornea, a place blood vessels don't
normally grow. Yet, blood vessels grew toward the tumor.
Furthermore, after removing the tumor, the vessels regressed.
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states that it took Folkman 10 years to isolate the protein that
enabled tumors to recruit their own blood supply.
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notes that a team working with Folkman isolated a protein called
VEGf, which stimulates blood vessels in many cancers and is
active in macular degeneration. In fact, abnormal blood vessels
are a factor in more than 60 diseases.
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reports that a woman with macular degeneration received a VEGf
blocker, reversing her eye damage and restoring her vision.
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discusses a diagnostic test that identifies a protein in urine
associated with the onset of abnormal vessel growth. It is hoped
that this angiogenesis test will identify tumor growth at an
early stage.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after the program
is recorded off the air.
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