Faculty Accomplishments

Finding a cure for cancer

Salman Hyder researches how sex hormones affect the blood supply to tumors. His work will be used to develop drugs that control the growth of cancerous tumors. Hyder’s endowed position in the College of Veterinary Medicine allows him to conduct comparative medicine research that will benefit humans and animals.

Breast cancer patients may someday have Salman Hyder to thank for halting the spread of their deadly disease. Hyder researches how sex hormones affect the blood supply to tumors, allowing them to grow and spread. His research will one day result in new drugs that halt the growth of tumors by inhibiting blood supply. Hyder’s research also will benefit victims of other hormone-dependent diseases such as uterine and prostate cancers.

Hyder is the Thelma P. Zalk Missouri Professor of Tumor Angiogenesis in Biomedical Sciences at the Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, a position he has held since 2002. The endowment made possible by Zalk’s generosity allows Hyder to gather preliminary data needed for his research and to test novel ideas that are otherwise difficult to pursue.

“I applied for this position because of its endowment,” says Hyder, who chose Mizzou over job offers from several other prestigious universities. “Endowments bring recognition to the University, and are some of the highest honors given to investigators in academics.”

Federal funds support Hyder’s research, too. They include the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Program, the National Institutes for Health and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

“Someday, many women will benefit from our discoveries linking hormones and angiogenesis to eradicate tumors,” Hyder says. “The knowledge gained will also allow development of safer drugs for treatment of hormone-dependent cancers, for oral contraception and for post-menopausal hormone replacement therapy without the risk of cancer.”

Thanks to his research, and one woman’s generosity, a cure is closer.