How does one write about Faron and Bex without mentioning them? For example, yesterday I saw:
NCI Division of Cancer Biology operates as part of the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI). The NCI, in turn, is part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). This division funds and directs cancer research with its authority. Even though it is American, the effects resonate throughout the world—and to the FDA in the U.S. The division has designated cancer microenvironment research as a priority area.
In this presentation of the scientific program, the key points include, among others:
Tumor and Stromal Cellular Interactions, i.e., the interaction between cancer and the surrounding tissue and cells—which is what Clever/Bex modulates.
Metabolic Reprogramming of the Tumor Microenvironment, i.e., altering the immunosuppressive microenvironment.
For example, reprogramming macrophage metabolism fits into this category.
In the Tumor Cell Plasticity section, the reprogramming of stromal cells is also mentioned, under which the pro-inflammatory change in macrophages can be classified.
”Mechanistic characterization of permissive or suppressive tumor microenvironment states”
”therapy-induced reprogramming of cancer and stromal cells”
The importance of lymphatic and blood vessels is one of the targets. Sirpa Jalkanen’s and Marko Salmi’s (who is one of the supervisors of the dissertation mentioned in the thread above) research originally started with Clever in those vessels, until the Clever of macrophages was also discovered, and the rest is future history.
Overall, this means that dollars are starting to flow toward this direction of research. It is a threat to Faron if something other than Clever turns out to be the most important player in the cancer microenvironment. However, there are likely several players; there is hardly one single right one, as that is rarely the case in biology. It is an opportunity for Faron because the money and attention are turning toward what Faron has already been doing for years.