Elisabetta Dejana is Full Professor of General Pathology at the Department of Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology, School of Sciences, University of Milan, Italy
One of the most innovative aspects of anti-cancer therapies concerns the possibility of inhibiting tumor growth by blocking blood supply. If starved, a tumor will not grow, but, on the contrary, will shrink and become more susceptible to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Our research is aimed at understanding the mechanisms that regulate the formation of the vascular system in tumors in order to induce their regression. A large body of information derives from the study of embryonic development, since embryo and tumor vascularization are often regulated by the same molecular mechanisms.