The purpose of this book is to highlight novel advances in the field and to incentivize scientists from a variety of fields to pursue angiogenesis as a research avenue. Blood vessel formation and maturation to capillaries, arteries, or veins is a fascinating area which can appeal to multiple scientists, students, and professors alike. Angiogenesis is relevant to medicine, engineering, pharmacology, and pathology and to the many patients suffering from blood vessel diseases and cancer, among others. We are hoping that this book will become a source of inspiration and novel ideas for all.

After a disappointing 2019, growth prospects in developing Asia have worsened under the impact of the current health crisis. Signs of incipient recovery near the turn of this year were quickly overthrown as COVID-19 broke out in January 2020 in the region’s largest economy and subsequently expanded into a global pandemic. Disruption to regional and global supply chains, trade, and tourism, and the continued spread of the outbreak, leave the region reeling under massive economic shocks and financial turmoil. Across Asia, the authorities are responding with policies to contain the outbreak, facilitate medical interventions, and support vulnerable businesses and households. Assuming that the outbreak is contained this year, growth is expected to recover in 2021. Especially to face down fundamental threats such as the current medical emergency, innovation is critical to growth and development. As some economies in developing Asia challenge the innovation frontier, many others lag. More and better innovation is needed in the region to sustain growth that is more inclusive and environmentally sustainable. Five key drivers of innovation are sound education, productive entrepreneurship, high-quality institutions, efficient financial systems, and dynamic cities that excite knowledge exchange. The journey to creating an innovative society takes long-term commitment and hard work.

Toxicodynamics in Drug Research, Volume 2: Public Health and Toxicology Issues examines the implications of public health issues and the impact of pharmaceuticals, chemical and food toxicants, dietary phytochemicals, and medical treatments on human health. Volume 2: Public Health and Toxicology Issues in Drug Research: Toxicity and Toxicodynamics covers topics on pharmacokinetics and toxicokinetics such as population pharmacokinetics/toxicokinetics, the design of toxicokinetic studies, and the use of toxicokinetic data in preclinical safety assessments. The book investigates the health effect caused by the bioaccumulation of pharmaceutical and personal care products and the impact of drug-induced toxicity on different systems of the body. It discusses the mechanistic pathways of food toxicants and illustrates the molecular mechanisms of the chemopreventive role of dietary phytochemicals. It also delves into the toxic effects of medical treatments and materials. Ethical, legal, societal, and professional issues in toxicology round off the coverage providing a valuable resource to interested in learning more about the health impact and public health issues related to the toxicity of pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, personal care products, and medical treatments. - Discusses the impact of pharmaceuticals, food, and chemical toxicants on human health - Examines the toxic effects of medical treatments, clinical administrations, and materials - Explores public health issues around drug safety and toxicology

Genetic alterations in cancer, in addition to being the fundamental drivers of tumorigenesis, can give rise to a variety of metabolic adaptations that allow cancer cells to survive and proliferate in diverse tumor microenvironments. This metabolic flexibility is different from normal cellular metabolic processes and leads to heterogeneity in cancer metabolism within the same cancer type or even within the same tumor. In this book, we delve into the complexity and diversity of cancer metabolism, and highlight how understanding the heterogeneity of cancer metabolism is fundamental to the development of effective metabolism-based therapeutic strategies. Deciphering how cancer cells utilize various nutrient resources will enable clinicians and researchers to pair specific chemotherapeutic agents with patients who are most likely to respond with positive outcomes, allowing for more cost-effective and personalized cancer therapeutic strategies.

Gene therapy has expanded rapidly over the last decade. The number of clinical trials reported by 2001 included 532 protocols and 3436 patients. Phase I trials predominate with 359 trials of 1774 patients versus Phase II (57 trials with 507 patients) and Phase III (3 trials of 251 patients). The disease overwhelmingly targeted by gene therapy is cancer: involving 331 trials with 2361 patients. Despite the somewhat disappointing results of clinical trials to date, gene therapy offers tremendous promise for the future of cancer therapy. The area of gene therapy is vast, and both malignant and nonmalignant cells can be targeted. Suicide Gene Therapy: Methods and Reviews covers gene therapy that targets malignant cells in a treatment that has become known as “suicide gene therapy. ” Basically, this approach uses the transduction of cancer cells with a gene for a foreign enzyme that, when expressed, is able to activate a nontoxic prodrug into a highly cytotoxic drug able to kill the cancer cell population. This is a major area in cancer gene therapy—in 2001 this technique was represented by 52 clinical protocols with a total of 567 patients. Additional trials used multiple gene therapy protocols that also involved suicide gene therapy (83 with 497 patients), indicating that the interest in this area is considerable. Suicide Gene Therapy: Methods and Reviews aims to cover comprehensively, both in theoretical and practical terms, the rapidly evolving area of suicide gene therapy for cancer.

This reference book, which is the second volume of Targeting Oxidative Stress in Cancer, explores oxidative stress as the potential therapeutic target for cancer therapy. The initial chapters discuss the molecular mechanisms of oxidative stress and its effects on different signaling pathways. Subsequently, the sections examine the impact of redox signaling on tumor cell proliferation and consider the therapeutic potential of dietary phytochemicals and nutraceuticals in reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced cancer. In turn, it examines the evidence supporting the use of Vitamin C in cancer management, before presenting various synthetic and natural compounds that have therapeutic implications for oxidative stress-induced cancer. It also explores the correlation between non-coding RNA and oxidative stress. Furthermore, the book summarizes the role of stem cells in ROS-induced cancer therapy and reviews the therapeutic applications of nanoparticles to alter redox haemostasis in cancer cells. Lastly, it explores heat-shock proteins, ubiquitin ligases, and probiotics as potential therapeutic agents in ROS-mediated cancer. This book is a useful resource for basic and translational scientists as well as clinicians interested in the field of oxidative stress and cancer therapy. ​