Evolving models of tumor origin and progression

Synemin: an evolving role in tumor growth and progression

Dear Editor, I read with great interest the recent article by Russ et al. [1]. Synemin plays a major modulatory role in tumor growth and progression in different systemic malignancies. Synemin plays an important role in neurological tumors such as astrocytomas and glioblastomas. For instance, the leading edge of astrocytomas exhibit upregulated synemin levels. This has been confirmed by Pan et ...

Retinoblastoma: Animal Models of Tumor Progression

To generate animal models of retinoblastoma that closely resemble metastatic and nonmetastatic human disease for the purposes of examining tumor biology and of developing alternate treatments, human retinoblastoma cell lines were injected into the vitreal cavities of immunodeficient mice. Two reproducible animal models with contrasting biologic behavior analogous to human retinoblastoma have be...

Heterogeneity in evolutionary models of tumor progression

Changing Roles of Matrix Metalloproteases and Their Inhibitors, TIMPs, During Tumor Progression and Angiogenesis

Inhibition of matrix-metalloproteinases (MMPs) by tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) has been shown in vivo to decrease metastasis and tumor-associated angiogenesis. Our laboratory is interested in understanding the role of these proteins at the pericellular microenvironment of tumor and endothelial cells. Secretion of MMPs by tumor cells enables the migration, invasion and metasta...

Modelling Tumor-induced Angiogenesis: Combination of Stochastic Sprout Spacing and Sprout Progression

Background: Angiogenesis initiated by cancerous cells is the process by which new blood vessels are formed to enhance oxygenation and growth of tumor. Objective: In this paper, we present a new multiscale mathematical model for the formation of a vascular network in tumor angiogenesis process. Methods: Our model couples an improved sprout spacing model as a stochastic mathematical model of spro...