UC Irvine researchers develop promising drugs to halt tumor, skin disease blood vessel growth

Irvine, Calif., July 14, 2025 - University of California, Irvine scientists have made a promising discovery that could lead to more effective treatments for aggressive cancers and chronic skin conditions. In a new study, researchers have identified a class of drug compounds that block the growth of blood vessels - a process known as angiogenesis - in both tumors and skin tissue.

The findings, published today in the journal iScience, offer new hope for patients with diseases like melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, as well as common vascular skin disorders such as rosacea.

The discovery was led by Dr. Anand Ganesan, a physician-scientist at UCI Health and professor of dermatology and biological chemistry at UC Irvine. According to Ganesan, the newly discovered compounds stop the formation of new blood vessels by targeting key proteins involved in the process - specifically the molecular switches known as CDC42 and RhoJ.

"Most skin tumors need to develop a blood supply to grow larger than a millimeter," Ganesan said. "These compounds interrupt that process, effectively starving the tumors and slowing their growth."

The research showed that blocking the RhoJ pathway, in particular, was effective at reducing blood-vessel formation in skin - and also significantly reduced blood supply to melanoma tumors, suppressing their growth. Importantly, this class of drugs did not affect healthy surrounding tissue, making them promising candidates for targeted therapies.

The implications could be far-reaching. While anti-angiogenesis drugs have long been used to treat cancers like colon and kidney cancer, they have had limited success against melanoma. By focusing on a different molecular target, this new approach could provide a more precise and effective way to block blood flow to these aggressive tumors.

Beyond cancer, the research team is also investigating whether these compounds can be used to treat skin diseases driven by abnormal blood vessel growth. These include rosacea, which affects millions of Americans, and inherited vascular disorders that currently have limited treatment options.

The project was made possible by several key sources of funding, including grants from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases, both part of the federal National Institutes of Health. Additional support came from the Italian Association for Cancer Research and UC Irvine's new Clinical Innovation Incubator, a Department of Dermatology program that provides seed funding for early-stage medical innovations.

The team now plans to explore how these compounds might be used in clinical settings, both for cancer treatment and skin disease therapy. While more research is needed before the drugs can be tested in humans, the discovery represents a major step forward in understanding - and potentially controlling - how blood vessels form in disease.

"This is an exciting development," Ganesan said. "We're hopeful this research will lead to better, safer therapies for patients who currently have very few treatment options."

The UC Irvine research team included first author Linh M. Vuong, PhD; Stephanie Hachey, PhD; Jessica Shiu, MD, PhD; Danny F. Xie; Noel Salvador, PhD; Rachel Pham; Vance Ku; Swara D. Limbekar; Terry Nguyen; Bernard Choi, PhD, and Christopher C.W. Hughes, PhD, a UC Irvine Chancellor's Professor of molecular biology and biochemistry. A team of researchers led by Marco de Vivo at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa provided critically important molecular modeling and translational pharmacology expertise.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation's top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit https://www.uci.edu.

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