Overview
Angiogenesis is the creation of new blood cells. Chemical signals stimulate endothelial cells inside the blood vessels’ walls. This causes the cells to differentiate, migrate and grow into new blood cells that replace damaged ones. Cancer tumors discharge chemical signals to stimulate angiogenesis. This leads to the formation of new blood vessels that provide nutrients and oxygen to tumors, thus making them grow and spread in our bodies. Therefore, slowing down angiogenesis, formation of red blood cells around the tumor can prevent the growth of the cancerous tumor (National Cancer Institute 1- 4).
Recent research
Recent research has sought to understand angiogenesis, the formation o red blood cells at the molecular level. Zayed et al.’s (73-96) research reveals that the CIB1 protein controlling the endothelial cell functions is the same as the one causing red blood cell formation in cancer tumors. These findings can form the basis of cancer therapies that targetCIB1 in order to inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors. Other researches such as Junrong et al. (1-9) research have supported Zayed et al.’s findings. In Junrong et al. MS research analysis, a liver tumor shows that there are more CIB1 proteins in advanced tumors than in the pre-tumor cancerous stage. Further results show that addition of Ribonucleic acid to inhibit the growth of CIB1 stops the liver tumor from growing. This ascertains that CIB1 findings can help researchers develop a treatment for cancer including liver cancer. The University of Massachusetts has been quick to act and just recently in July, it finalized its research on CIB1 Inhibitory drugs. The authorization of some drugs such as Avastin has been affected and are now used as cancer treatment (Garkavtsev et al. 3-9)
Ethical concerns
Health practitioners should maintain honesty, respect, make sure that patients’ interests come first and avoid harming the patients. The angiogenesis inhibitory drugs approved have severe side effects such as hypertension, delaying wound healing, and causing blood clots that can trigger heart attacks. Unfortunately, doctors are still using the drugs because they believe that they are acting with the patient’s best interests at heart. Usually, if a drug does more good than harm and there is no other effective drug, doctors can overlook the negative side effects and use the drug to save the patient’s life. Most doctors are therefore claiming that drugs such as Avastin have more positive than negative results. Research shows that there are more effective drugs with few side effects than inhibitory drugs. This makes one wonder whether the use of CIB1 inhibitory drugs in treating patients is doing more harm to the patients or helping the patients/acting with the patients’ best interest at heart (National Cancer Institute 4-9).
Conclusion
I think that the researchers should have tried to experiment and find out the possible side effects of the drugs before using them. It makes no sense to cure a cancer patient who will end up dying of a heart attack caused by the inhibitory drugs used. In addition, it makes no sense to use drugs that can lead to multiple surgeries due to clot formation and excessive bleeding while there may be drugs that can effectively cure cancer. In my opinion, doctors using the just developed angiogenesis inhibitory are unethical. They are not concerned with the long-term impact that the drugs might have on patients. Once life is lost, no one can revive it and therefore, if doctors want to save lives, they should start by avoiding the use of harmful drugs and researching more on the drug’s short-term and long-term side effects before using them.
Works Cited
Garkavtsev, Igor et al. “Dehydro- -Lapachone, a Plant Product with Antivascular Activity”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 12.108. (2011): 596-601. Web.
Junrong, T. et al. “Proteomic Identification of CIB1 as a Potential Diagnostic Factor in Hepatocellular Carcinoma”. Journal of Bioscience 36.4 (2011): 659-68. Web.
National Cancer Institute. Angiogenesis Inhibitors. National Cancer Institute, 2011. Web.
Zayed, Mohamed A. et al. “Tumor Growth and Angiogenesis is Impaired in CIB1 Knockout Mice”. Journal of Angiogenesis Research 2.17 (2010): 73-96. Web.