The Hakubi Project

Growth of malignant tumor depends on oxygen and nutrients supply from tumor blood vessels, which supports an idea of the so-called "Starvation Tactics" using an vascular-disrupting or anti-angiogenic agent. However, accumulating evidence has demonstrated that resultant hypoxic microenvironments in a tumor tissue unexpectedly induce malignant phenotypes of cancer cells. In the seminar I would like to talk about molecular mechanism underlying the hypoxia-mediated promotion of distant metastasis and chemo-/radio-resistance of cancers and introduce potential strategies to overcome these difficulties.