Breast cancer is characterized by rapid aberrant growth of tissue in the mammary glands. The speed of cancer growth is enabled by the rapid development of a robust vasculature to provide nutrients to the tumors. One relatively recent approach to mitigating cancer growth is to inhibit the development of the vasculature supplying blood to the...Read More
Breast cancer diagnosis and treatment with sentinel lymph node biopsy, axillary lymph node dissection and (neo)adjuvant radiotherapy can cause secondary lymphedema. Studies between 2007 and 2011 reported an overall incidence of 20% 6 months post-surgery, about 2,000 diagnoses/year in Belgium. The accumulation of protein rich fluid in the interstitial tissue, chronic inflammation of the lymphatic...Read More
Enhancement of flap survival through extracorporeal shock wave treatment (ESWT) is a promising new technique; however, no attempt has been made to define the optimal time point and frequency of ESWT to optimize treatment with ESWT for ischemic indications. Click here to read more.Read More
Shock waves have been shown to induce recruitment of intravenously injected endothelial progenitor cells to ischemic hind limbs in rats. We hypothesized that shock wave treatment as sole therapy would induce angiogenesis in this ischemia model and would lead to mobilization of endogenous endothelial (progenitor) cells. Click here to read more.Read More
Ischemic heart disease represents a collective term for a continuous disease pathophysiology, ranging from acute myocardial infarction to congestive and chronic heart failure. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and its Global Burden of Disease study 2010 ischemic heart disease represents the most common cause of death and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) worldwide. Click...Read More
Shock wave therapy (SWT) represents a clinically widely used angiogenic and thus regenerative approach for the treatment of ischaemic heart or limb disease. Despite promising results in preclinical and clinical trials, the exact mechanism of action remains unknown. Toll-like receptor 3, which is part of the innate immunity, is activated by binding doublestranded (ds) RNA....Read More
Tissue-engineered xenografts represent a promising treatment option in heart valve disease. However, inflammatory response leading to graft failure and incomplete in vitro repopulation with recipient cells remain challenging. Shock waves (SWs) were shown to modulate inflammation and to enhance re-epithelialization. We therefore aimed to investigate whether SWs could serve as a feasible adjunct to tissue...Read More
The main aim of our research in this field is to regenerate infarcted myocardium, respectively the hibernating myocardium. We use LAD ligation models – chronic, acute and ischemia/ reperfusion – in different species. Besides regeneration we work on the induction of angiogenesis as well as vasculogenesis. Click here to read more.Read More
