This is a temporary TMEN Website. It is under development and will ultimately be housed under caBIG™ Community Website.
The Tumor Microenvironment Network (TMEN) is a new program within the National Cancer Institute (NCI) focused on expanding the understanding of the role of the microenvironment in which a tumor originates and the critical role it plays in tumor initiation and progression. Current cancer research reveals that tumors are not masses of autonomous cells developing independently, but function like organs composed of many interdependent cell types that contribute to tumor development and metastasis. The interaction between the tumors and their surrounding cellular environment, collectively known as the stroma, co-evolve during the tumor initiation and progression strongly effecting the establishment and treatment of cancer. Evidence is emerging that critical stromal elements of the tumor are attractive targets for cancer prevention, because they primarily influence tumor cells in the early stages of cancer progression.
Nine programs, described below, form the TMEN, a multi-disciplinary network that includes pathologists, cancer biologists, cell biologists, oncologists, and experts in bioengineering and bioinformatics. Responding to an initiative released by the NCI Division of Cancer Biology in 2006, these individual research programs will focus on defining mechanisms of tumor-stroma interactions, as well as on studying the normal tissue microenvironment as a prerequisite for understanding the microenvironment of wounded tissues and tumor tissues.
Contact Info:
Suresh Mohla, Ph.D.
Chief, Tumor Biology and Metastasis Research
Division of Cancer Biology
Anne S. Tatem, MPA
Office of the Director
Division Of Cancer Biology
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