cases, and because it has stimulated new ways of thinking about the very difficult problem of treating cancer."

Whitesides explained that Folkman's research uses a methodology of attacking "normal" tissues that support a cancer, such as vascular tissue, rather than targeting the cancer itself.

"Folkman's work has produced a shift in the way that the biomedical community is thinking about

treatment of cancer," he said.

Traditional cancer therapies--including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy--overlook the fact that cancer, a derangement of the genome, has a strong tendency to mutate and become insensitive to certain treatment agents.

Whitesides added that those traditional treatments may not help in those cases where the cancer spreads beyond the treated, or treatable, areas. Traditional cancer therapies are also notoriously hard on the patient as both malignant and normal tissues are susceptible to toxic agents.

According to officials at the Children's Hospital, the first phase of clinical trials in humans with endostatin will begin in Boston in late September. Angiostatin is expected to enter Phase I clinical trials next year.

Lane, sounding a cautionary note about the expectations for a human cancer therapy that Folkman's work has already raised, articulated the goal of clinical trials.