Tumors as organs: biologically augmenting radiation therapy by inhibiting transforming growth factor β activity in carcinomas

S Du, MH Barcellos-Hoff - Seminars in radiation oncology, 2013 - Elsevier
Transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) plays critical roles in regulating a plethora of
physiological processes in normal organs, including morphogenesis, embryonic
development, stem cell differentiation, immune regulation, and wound healing. Though
considered a tumor suppressor, TGFβ is a critical mediator of tumor microenvironment, in
which it likewise mediates tumor and stromal cell phenotype, recruitment, inflammation,
immune function, and angiogenesis. The fact that activation of TGFβ is an early and …