Scientists have uncovered critical information that may lead to an urgently needed method for effective monitoring of antiangiogenic cancer therapies.
The research, published in the January issue of Cancer Cell, is likely to facilitate development of new antiangiogenic drugs or treatment strategies and allow for accurate determination of the optimal drug doses to use for such therapies.
Antiangiogenic cancer therapy targets the formation of new blood vessels used to support tumor growth. Although many of these agents are currently being tested in clinical trials, no reliable way to monitor the effects of many, if not most, of these therapeutic agents on the inhibition of the complicated process of angiogenesis exists. Dr. Robert S. Kerbel from Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto and colleagues, including Dr. Francesco Bertolini of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan and Dr. Robert D'Amato of Harvard University, examined whether circulating levels of a class of specific blood cells that contribute to the formation of tumor vessels provide any useful information about the effectiveness of angiogenesis inhibitors.