Anna Dimberg – Tumour vascular biology
The focus of our research is to understand how the tumour vasculature affects cancer progression through regulation of the microenvironment. A main goal is to identify vascular targeting strategies that can be used to improve the response to cancer therapy, including immunotherapy.
Blood vessel formation and inflammation are closely linked processes that affect the clinical outcome of several pathological conditions, including cancer. Endothelial cells, lining the inside of vessels, are central players in both these processes. They initiate the formation of new vessels after growth factor stimulation and regulate extravasation of inflammatory cells from the blood stream into the tissue.
Tumour vessels are morphologically and functionally distinct from normal vessels, at least partially as a consequence of ongoing angiogenesis and extensive growth factor stimulation. Differential protein expression in tumour endothelium may affect leukocyte recruitment, permeability and establishment of a vascular niche. Therefore, proteins specifically expressed in tumour endothelial cells may constitute new targets for cancer treatment.