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Compass Oncology's Dr. Ravi Chandra is co-author of a cancer research article about the enhancement of drug delivery to tumors.

The article is published on ScienceMag.org.

Culling cancer by vacating the vasculature

Although it is important for blood vessels to maintain barrier function under most conditions, in cancer therapy, vascular permeability enhances drug delivery to tumors. Miller et al. used intravital microscopy and computational modeling to show that a single, low dose of radiation therapy could induce transient, dynamic, and localized vascular “bursting”—increased permeability, coinciding with extravasation of fluid, cells, and nanoparticles from blood vessels in tumors. Along with vascular bursting, radiation enlarged blood vessel volume and the number of tumor-associated macrophages in mouse xenografts and patient tumor biopsies. These tumor-associated macrophages took up drug-laden nanoparticles, inducing greater drug delivery to tumors. This study demonstrates an alternative strategy for improving targeted nanotherapy delivery by modifying the local tumor microenvironment rather than the nanoparticle itself.

Learning you have cancer, or that cancer has returned, is shocking news. After you begin to wrap your mind around it your main focus is probably, “How can I beat this?” In most situations your oncologist begins treatments using established, proven cancer treatment protocols based on the specific type of cancer you have been diagnosed with. For some people, the most commonly effective cancer treatments don't work as expected, and in these cases your cancer specialist may recommend enrolling in a cancer clinical trial. Should you do this? Find out more about cancer research done right in your community.

It’s common for cancer patients and their families to feel helpless, as if their futures and those of their loved ones are entirely dependent on physicians and medications. Genetic testing is one way for cancer patients and their relatives to regain a sense of control over the disease, and make a valuable contribution toward improving its detection, treatment and prevention.

One of the most effective ways for cancer researchers to learn why a type of cancer occurs (an important step in discovering treatments) is to study the genes of patients and those who share their DNA profile.

Many have heard of clinical research in the medical industry, but what goes into researching diseases like cancer and how are the results determined? What are clinical trials and who do they involve?

What are Clinical Trials?

Clinical trials are tests done by researchers to evaluate the safety of new therapies and how effective they are at treating certain diseases or conditions, such as cancer. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration), a government agency that regulates the use and testing of new drugs before they are released to the public, must evaluate and approve the safety of any new drugs. There are different types of clinical trials depending on the purpose of the drug or therapy:

Compass Oncology is a leading referral source for cancer-specific clinical trials in the region. Clinical trials are research studies designed to develop new and better cancer treatment therapies. At any given time, Compass has more than 50 active clinical trials, including many that are not available elsewhere in the Portland-Vancouver area.

In this new era of targeted therapies, the role of clinical research is more important than ever in providing patients with access to the latest in cancer treatments. They are responsible for many of the great strides in what we know as standards of cancer treatment today.