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Review
. 2017 Jun 21;5(2):34.
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines5020034.

The Role of Angiogenesis in Cancer Treatment

Mehdi Rajabi  1 , Shaker A Mousa  2
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Angiogenesis in Cancer Treatment

Mehdi Rajabi et al. Biomedicines. .

Abstract

A number of anti-angiogenesis drugs have been FDA-approved and are being used in cancer treatment, and a number of other agents are in different stages of clinical development or in preclinical evaluation. However, pharmacologic anti-angiogenesis strategies that arrest tumor progression might not be enough to eradicate tumors. Decreased anti-angiogenesis activity in single mechanism-based anti-angiogenic strategies is due to the redundancy, multiplicity, and development of compensatory mechanism by which blood vessels are remodeled. Improving anti-angiogenesis drug efficacy will require identification of broad-spectrum anti-angiogenesis targets. These strategies may have novel features, such as increased porosity, and are the result of complex interactions among endothelial cells, extracellular matrix proteins, growth factors, pericyte, and smooth muscle cells. Thus, combinations of anti-angiogenic drugs and other anticancer strategies such as chemotherapy appear essential for optimal outcome in cancer patients. This review will focus on the role of anti-angiogenesis strategies in cancer treatment.

Keywords: anti-VEGF; anti-angiogenesis; anti-integrin; endothelial cells; integrin; matrix metalloproteinase; pathological angiogenesis; pericyte; physiological angiogenesis; pro-angiogenesis; tyrosine kinase inhibitors; vascular growth factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. However, the authors are pursuing the development of broad-spectrum anti-angiogenesis compounds, which are not dealt with in this review.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Angiogenesis is the process of the development of new blood vessels from pre-existing vessels, which allows for tumor progression; (B) Steps in angiogenesis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Tumor development under hypoxic conditions. ECM = extracellular matrix.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Chemical structure of some angiogenesis inhibitors for cancer therapy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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