Tumor Angiogenesis: Basic Mechanisms And Cancer Therapy

Tumor angiogenesis is one of the most prominent mechanisms driving tumor development and progression. Since its discovery more than 30 years ago some of the most important signaling pathways linking specific angiogenic activities of the tumor cells to the fatal reactions of the patienta (TM)s vascular system have been elucidated. As a consequence crucial targets for therapeutic intervention have been identified and validated.

Based on these efforts and achievements, targeted drug development programs have been implemented to interfere with tumor angiogenesis as an attractive strategy in cancer treatment.

As a promising result the first targeted anti-angiogenic drugs have been approved for a variety of solid metastasizing cancers. The first generation of these molecules targets the two most prominent regulatory components of tumor angiogenesis: the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), produced by tumor cells, and the VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase, which is expressed on vascular endothelial cells.

Part 1 of this volume describes the basic mechanisms of tumor angiogenesis. Beyond the VEGF/VEGF receptor system, additional tumor-angiogenic systems are presented as new potential targets for anti-angiogenic therapy. Part 2 reviews the efforts made in preclinical research to validate new targets and to show efficacy in animals. Part 3 is entirely devoted to the clinical development of the novel anti-angiogenic drugs and their current use in clinical practice.