Judah Folkman, Researcher, Dies at 74 [ideas met years of skepticism]

Dr. Judah Folkman, a path-breaking cancer researcher who faced years of skepticism before his ideas led to successful treatments, died Monday in Denver. He was 74. ....

Dr. Folkman, a professor at Harvard and director of the vascular biology program at Children’s Hospital Boston, is considered the father of the idea that tumors can be kept in check by choking off the supply of blood they need to grow.

The approach is now embodied in several successful cancer drugs, most notably Avastin, by Genentech.

“His vision and ideas literally changed the course of modern medicine,” said Dr. William Li, a former student of Dr. Folkman’s, who is president of the Angiogenesis Foundation, an organization that promotes the promise of Dr. Folkman’s approach. Angiogenesis refers to the formation of new blood vessels.

From another NY Times article TELEVISION REVIEW; A 'Heretic,' He Starves Cancer Cells

Beginning 40 years ago Dr. Folkman began developing a different strategy: embargo, not attack. Instead of trying to destroy cancer cells, he focused on preventing them from getting nourishment. He theorized that cancer cells had the ability to stimulate the formation of blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis. If this process could be stopped, so would cancer growth.
For years this notion was considered heretical and Dr. Folkman was often ostracized as a surgeon who didn't understand the rules of laboratory research. He was convinced, however, that his experience in the operating room gave him insight into cancer growth that eluded researchers who never left the laboratory. His conviction that answers lay in angiogenesis inhibitors -- molecules that block blood vessel growth -- was reinforced every time he handled cancerous tumors. ''They were hot and red and bloody,'' he says, describing diseased tissues that were freshly removed.

I got curious about the effects of smoking on angiogenesis,* so I did a little search:

Google search on "Smoking + Angiogenesis"

I wish I had the background to sort through the studies.

*After all, "The Greatest Generation" smoked.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.