[Breast cancer angiogenesis]

Abstract

Recent clinical investigations have confirmed that angiogenesis is a basic property of solid tumors as well as proliferation, invasion and metastasis. In addition to the fundamental analysis of tumor angiogenesis in clinical tumors, the focus has been on clinical applications of tumor angiogenesis. Representatives are applications for prognostic indicators of primary breast tumor and for antiangiogenesis therapy. The clinical value of angiogenesis-related factors as a tumor marker and diagnostic applications targeting newly-developed vasculatures have been investigated. In this review, recent new findings on the clinical applications of tumor angiogenesis in human tumors, particularly breast cancer, will be summarized and discussed.