Angiogenesis a putative new approach in glutamine related therapy.

Angiogenesis or the generation of new blood vessels, is an important factor regarding the growth of a tumor. Hence, it becomes a necessary parameter of any kind in therapeutic studies. Glutamine is an essential nutrient of tumor tissue and glutamine related therapy involves clearance of circulatory glutamine by glutaminase. So, whether this enzyme has any effect on angiogenesis of a tumor or not becomes an obvious question. To address this question, this study has been carried out with different murine tumor models. The results indicate that purified glutaminase reduces tumor volume as well as restricts the generation of new blood vessels. Glutaminase is effective in the case of solid as well as ascites tumor models. In the case of induced cancer, the host exhibits delayed onset of neoplasia following enzyme treatment and tumor host interactions determine the intensity of the neovascularisation process. Therefore, it can be concluded that this enzyme might be an effective agent against cancer metastasis.