Angiogenesis in cancer

Abstract

Intensive research on molecular mechanisms responsible for tumor angiogenesis has opened an abundance of potential therapeutic options, whereby first anti-angiogenic strategies have already led to improved prognosis in certain cancers. Thereby, the main angiogenic growth factor, the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), has first become the focus of therapeutic interventions in advanced colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, glioblastoma, or renal cell cancer. However, not all patients benefit from anti- VEGF treatment, and those who do respond to such treatment may finally become resistant to anti-angiogenic therapies and relapse. This might lie in the fact that tumor angiogenesis is not only induced by VEGF but by many other VEGF- independent mechanisms. Furthermore, anti-VEGF therapies provoke hypoxia- induced upregulation of pro-angiogenic molecules. This book chapter covers main molecular mechanisms involved in tumor angiogenesis and gives insights in future therapeutic strategies.