Folkman, Judah (1933-2008), an American physician, conducted important research on new treatments for cancer. His research focused on discovering chemical compounds that block angiogenesis << an jee oh JEHN uh sihs >> , the growth of new blood vessels within the body. Scientists think that the research may lead to new drugs that shrink cancer tumors without damaging healthy cells or causing harmful side effects.
When cancer occurs, the rapidly dividing cells grow quickly to form a tumor. The cancer cells secrete chemicals that cause new blood vessels to grow around the tumor. The new vessels provide oxygen and nutrients necessary for the tumor to grow and spread to other parts of the body. In the early 1970’s, Folkman reasoned that chemical compounds that prevent angiogenesis could be used as drugs that cut off the blood supply to cancerous tumors. Other scientists, however, disagreed with this idea.
Beginning in 1994, Folkman and his colleagues succeeded in isolating substances called angiogenesis inhibitors that blocked angiogenesis in cancerous tumors in mice. Two of these substances, angiostatin and endostatin, are fragments of proteins that occur naturally in mice as well as in human beings. In 1999, researchers at Folkman’s laboratory announced that another angiogenesis inhibitor, designated aaAt, had been isolated from a protein called antithrombin. Antithrombin is a common protein in the body that prevents blood clots from forming. Scientists are investigating ways to create drugs from these protein fragments to treat people with cancer. Because the substances occur naturally in the body, there is less risk that the drugs will have the same harmful side effects that are caused by other cancer drugs.
Moses Judah Folkman was born on Feb. 24, 1933, in Cleveland. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1953 and received his M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School in 1957. In 1967, he became a professor of surgery at Harvard. He also served as surgeon-in-chief at the Children’s Hospital in Boston, where he conducted his research. He died on Jan. 14, 2008.
