June 2012 – Assistant professor Drew Dudley and colleagues publish a study in the journal Angiogenesis
June 2012 – Solid tumors resemble dysfunctional “organs” of malignant cells and supporting stromal cells including vascular cells, immune cells and fibroblasts. The Dudley lab has published a manuscript in the journal Angiogenesis showing how adipose tissue (fat cells) fuels tumor growth and angiogenesis by contributing to inflammation and acting as a depot for tumor-associated macrophages.
These studies are particularly relevant for breast cancers which grow within a “nest” of adipose tissue and metastasis to lymph nodes which are typically shrouded by adipocytes. Moreover, this is the first study to show how macrophages from adipose tissue at the periphery of growing tumors are specifically polarized in a way that exacerbates inflammation and contributes to neovascularization.