All evidence supports the accusation. Investigators found in different types of cancer -breast, prostate, melanoma and Kaposi’s sarcoma- that tumor cells over express Galectin-1 (Gal-1) to develop, metastasize and prevent the immune system to eliminate them. “During the last ten years we found that, in broad terms, Gal-1 favours all mechanisms associated to tumor cell growth: it allows them to escape the immune system, create new blood vessels- angiogenesis- and migrate to form metastasis”, explains Gabriel Ravinovich, principal investigator at the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (IBYME, CONICET- FIBYME), and director of the investigations team.
|
|