An Italian researcher has found a way to stop cancers spreading by starving them.
An antibody can be used to block the molecule in bone marrow, Bv8, that helps tumours secure a blood supply to feed on, according to Napoleone Ferrara of the Genentech Inc lab in San Francisco.
Ferrara has already found another key molecule for the growth of cancerous blood cells, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
For years he has been studying the mechanisms by which tumours make sure they have enough blood cells to grow.
Bv8 is a substance which is normally used to help wounds heal.
By targeting mice Bv8 with a set of antibodies, Ferrara found it was possible to stop the growth of tumours in the animals.
''For some time now scientists have understood that an effective way to block tumours is by starving them so that it is impossible for them to build the network of tumorous blood cells they feed on,'' he said.
''However, the mechanisms behind these processes have not yet been fully explained''.
''But Bv8 joins VEGF as a possible target for therapy,'' he concluded.
Ferrara's study appears in the latest edition of the journal Nature.
