We are a team from the Department of Cell Stress Biology at Roswell. Our department is absolutely unique since there is no other department in cancer institutes across the nation with such a special name.
There are different types of stress. Your mind can experience emotional stress, your body - physical stress, and cells of your body also undergo variety of stresses, e.g. from cold, heat, toxic chemicals or radiation. Many of these stresses may be a cause of cancer. However, stress is also a state in which cancer cells exist all the time, contrary to normal cells. Elevated metabolism in cancer cells leads to the accumulation of toxins, poorly developed blood vessels cannot provide enough nutrients and oxygen to cancer cells, high level of genomic instability results in the presence of multiple mutant proteins, etc. Cancer cell stresses make cancer cell vulnerable to any extra pressure. Thus targeting stress response pathways causes cancer cell death, while can be tolerated by normal cells. In our department, we find, test and develop approaches to target stress response and protection mechanisms to discover drugs to eradicate cancer.
Last two year we survived together another stress - global pandemic.. BUT, in less than a year vaccines were developed, tested and provided globally! You know why this was possible to do so quickly? Because, the new technology of vaccine generation was already developed for cancer treatment and quickly repurposed for coronavirus. So cancer research helps not only to fight with cancer but also to protect us from other global health hazards!
Pandemic is goin away, but cancer unfortunately is still here... So we need your help and support to STRESS CANCER TO DEATH!