Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals Inc. (fka RCPIQ)

[Buddhahead]

Inflammation-Cancer link article in Cancer Research UK titled:
"Feeling the heat – the link between inflammation and cancer"

Excerpt:
So how does inflammation lead to cancer? Here’s the current thinking.

When a tiny tumour starts growing from a few rogue cells, it can scavenge enough oxygen and nutrients from its surroundings. But as it grows bigger, demand starts to outstrip supply, and things start getting desperate.

As they struggle to survive, and as they accumulate more and more genetic faults, the cancer cells release chemical signals that lure immune cells called macrophages and granulocytes to infiltrate the tumour.

Once inside the tumour’s inner sanctum, these cells secrete molecules (called cytokines) that kick-start the growth of blood vessels (angiogenesis), which ferry in much-needed oxygen and nutrients.

Other cytokines encourage growth of a sort of cellular ‘pillow’ called the stroma against which the tumour rests. Meanwhile, other inflammatory cells spritz the tumour with molecules (free radicals) that further damage their DNA. Inflammation might also fire the starting gun for metastasis by producing chemicals that help tumour cells nibble through the molecules tethering them to their surroundings.

Taken together, it’s clear that fledgling tumours hijack inflammation and use it to accelerate the progression towards full-blown cancer. As one of our own experts once commented:

“If genetic damage is the match that lights the fire, inflammation may provide the fuel that feeds the flames.”
Stay cool, boy

So how do we turn down the heat? Scientists, including our own are working on how to dampen inflammation, making it much harder for cancers to flourish. They’re hacking into the molecular circuitry controlling inflammation, looking for ways to hotwire the system with next-generation drugs.

But what if we could manipulate inflammation to prevent cancer developing in the first place? Recent results suggest that the answer might be anything but next-generation. In fact, it’s been around since Hippocrates.

Better known to most of us by its brand name aspirin, acetylsalicyclic acid has been used for over a century to quell inflammation, and there’s now a body of evidence highlighting its potential in cancer prevention. While there’s still a way to go to work out who should take aspirin, how much, and for how long, it’s becoming clear that blocking inflammation will play a big role in cancer prevention and treatment in the future.

Rudolf Virchow will never know that his work sparked an entire field of cancer research but thanks to him, the fight against cancer is hotting up."

So what is better than aspirin? You know the answer.

Article at:
http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2013/02/01/feeling-the-heat-the-link-between-inflammation-and-cancer/