Inhibition of Tumor Blood Flow

Abstract

Research into the treatment of cancer has often been driven by the idea that a common biochemical pathway might exist in all tumors, providing an ideal target for therapy. However, it is now clear that a great variety of genetic changes contributes to the development of individual cancers, and that no two cancers are identical. Nevertheless, a common feature in solid tumors is the disorganized way in which the blood vessels develop. Networks of tumor capillaries, linked to the blood supply by arterioles and venules, are necessary for tumors to grow but, in contrast to capillaries supplying normal tissue, are haphazard in both their structure and their dynamics. It may be possible to use this common feature as a basis for selective therapy. In this chapter we provide a short review of the vasculature of solid tumors, then describe methods by which drugs might be used to inhibit tumor blood flow. Finally, we review some of the methods available for measurement of tumor blood flow.