Drawing a bead on lymphangiogenesis

A team of German researchers has developed a high throughput assay to identify compounds that block lymphangiogenesis, a process that promotes the progression and metastasis of solid tumors.¹ Some of the assay's top hits were in the statin class of drugs, which the researchers now plan to test in preclinical cancer models.

Solid tumors typically metastasize using pre-existing lymphatic vessels, which provide a channel for invasive tumor cells to transit through the body. However, there is growing evidence that metastatic tumors also can induce the formation of new lymphatic vessels, a process known as tumor lymphangiogenesis.^2-4...