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of DEATH
Angiogenesisthe formation of new blood vessels
might one day be manipulated to treat disorders
from cancer to heart disease. First-generation drugs
are now in the final phase of human testing
with standard cancer treatments such as surgery, giogenic and antiangiogenic factors. Angiogenesis is switched on
chemotherapy and radiation. by growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor
The blood vessels of tumors are abnormal. Surprisingly, (VEGF) and is turned off by inhibitors such as thrombospondin.
angiogenesis inhibitors appear to normalize tumor When the regulation of this balance is disturbed, as occurs dur-
vessels before they kill them. This normalization can help ing tumor growth, vessels form at inappropriate times and places.
anticancer agents reach tumors more effectively. Cancer researchers became interested in angiogenesis factors
in 1968, when the first hints emerged that tumors might release
NEURODEGENERATIVE ILLS
An increased blood supply
could minimize neuronal
damage in the brain
BREAST (AND OTHER) CANCER
Starving cancers of a blood supply
*
could help eradicate them
ILLUSTRATION BY KEITH KASNOT; PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL ABBEY (hair follicle); SIMON FRASER (brain); SALISBURY DISTRICT HOSPITAL (broken bones);
SIMON FRASER Royal Victoria Infirmary (breast cancer); STANFORD EYE CLINIC (retina). ALL PHOTOGRAPHS FROM SPL/PHOTO RESEARCHERS, INC.
ENDOMETRIOSIS
Agents that block angiogenesis
could prevent the growth of
LIMB FRACTURES uterine tissue outside the uterus
New blood vessels could help
repair broken bones
OBESITY
Fat requires miles of blood
BLOOD CLOTS IN LEGS *
Angiogenesis could bypass
vessels, which could be trimmed
by angiogenesis inhibitors
clots and improve circulation
backgrounds to the study of angiogenesis. Jain, who is now the Going after Established Blood Vessels
Andrew Werk Cook Professor of Tumor Biology at Harvard Medical THE TWO APPROACHES described thus far interfere with the
School and director of the Edwin L. Steele Laboratory at Massa- formation of new blood vessels. But what about preexisting ves-
chusetts General Hospital, started his career as a chemical engi- sels in a tumor? Is it possible to target those without disrupt-
neer. He held posts at Columbia University and at Carnegie Mellon ing the established vessels in healthy tissues and organs (an ap-
University before joining Harvard in 1991. Carmeliet is a professor proach termed antivascular therapy)?
of medicine at the University of Leuven in Belgium, where he also Luckily, it turns out that the blood vessels of tumors are ab-
serves as adjunct director of the Center for Transgene Technology normal. Not only are they structurally disorganized, tortuous,
and Gene Therapy at the Flanders Interuniversity Institute of dilated and leaky, but the cells that compose them display cer-
Biotechnology. He received his M.D. from Leuven in 1984 and his tain molecules on their surfaces from a class known as integrins
Ph.D. from the same institution in 1989. that are absent or barely detectable in mature vessels. Biologists
vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). It can also be development of more directed strategies for therapeutic
accomplished using gene therapy, administering to a patient angiogenesis. R.K.J. and P.F.C.
prompt tumors to use another proangiogenic substance to attract BLOOD VESSELS change in two useful ways in response to antiangiogenic
a blood supply. In the end, optimal antiangiogenic therapy might therapy. Normal vessels (a) are well organized and have even diameters,
consist of a cocktail of several angiogenesis inhibitors. whereas those from a colon cancer (b) are dilated and tortuous.
Angiogenesis inhibitors prune excess, inefficient vessels (c) which initially
An Ounce of Prevention normalizes the vasculature and helps chemotherapeutic drugs to reach
I F A N G I O G E N E S I S I N H I B I T O R S fulfill their early promise tumors. Eventually, though, increasing numbers of vessels begin to die (d).
against cancer, patients will probably need to take them for a
long time. The drugs might also be administered as cancer pre- strategy. Genetic analyses of tumors and patients promise to
ventatives to people with a high risk of particular cancers an improve the accuracy of diagnoses as well as the efficacy and
approach initially suggested in 1976 by Pietro M. Gullino of the safety of treatments in the future, but we suspect that within the
National Cancer Institute. Consequently, they must be shown next 10 or 20 years, better visualization of abnormal vessel
to be safe over the long term. (The drug interferon, an indirect structure and function will help as well.
antiangiogenic agent, has been given for years with no side ef- Antiangiogenic approaches have already shown benefit in pa-
fects to pediatric patients with hemangiomasbenign blood ves- tients with hemangiomas. As knowledge of tumor angiogenesis
sel tumors.) The existing human trials will not address this ques- progresses, cancers may be detected through elevated levels of
tion; they are designed to evaluate safety for just a few months. angiogenic molecules in the blood long before clinical symp-
Animal studies hint that some antiangiogenic compounds might toms. Physicians may begin to examine patients regularly using
not be safe enough for the long-term administration required to molecular tests and new imaging techniques to determine an in-
prevent growth or relapse of cancer. Mice that have been ge- dividuals profile of proangiogenic and antiangiogenic factors.
netically manipulated to reduce their production of VEGF can Based on such tests, doctors will be able to devise treatment
develop neurological defects after a prolonged period, for ex- plans that, along with other therapies, incorporate a mix of an-
ample, as shown in experiments by Carmeliet. giogenesis inhibitors appropriate for that individuals tumor.
Insufficient angiogenesis can also impair the hearts recov- Tests that detect the presence of abnormal vessels will allow doc-
ery from ischemia, tissue starvation stemming from a poor sup- tors to detect possible relapses at an early, potentially treatable
ply of blood. During a heart attack, a blood clot lodges in an stage. Perhaps, as safe oral antiangiogenic drugs are developed
artery that supplies the heart muscle, killing a part of the organ. and become available, cancer patients will be able to take a pill
Indeed, researchers are testing agents that spur angiogenesis as a day to keep the cancer away. If so, forms of cancer that are
treatments for ischemic heart disease. Accordingly, antiangio- currently untreatable will be reduced to chronic health problems
genic cancer treatments might increase a patients risk of ischemic similar to hypertension or diabetes, and many more people will
heart disease. As with any therapy, then, physicians and patients be able to live long, satisfying lives.
EDWARD BROWN Massachusetts General Hospital
will have to carefully weigh the risks and benefits of using an-
giogenesis inhibitors. MORE TO E XPLORE
Nevertheless, the burgeoning understanding of angiogene- An Address System in the Vasculature of Normal Tissues and Tumors.
sis has changed our thinking about how to attack cancer. Cur- E. Ruoslahti and D. Rajotte in Annual Review of Immunology, Vol. 18,
rent treatment with radiation and chemotherapy halts many pages 813827; 2000.
cancers, but too often the existing treatments bring about only Angiogenesis in Cancer and Other Diseases. P. Carmeliet and R. K. Jain
in Nature, Vol. 407, pages 249257; September 14, 2000.
a temporary symptom-free period before the tumor shows up
Angiogenesis. J. Folkman in Harrisons Principles of Internal Medicine.
again, spreads throughout the body and kills. Part of the prob- Fifteenth edition. Edited by E. Braunwald, A. S. Fauci, D. L. Kasper,
lem is that physicians and pathologists lack reliable, sensitive, S. L. Hauser, D. L. Longo and J. L. Jameson. McGraw-Hill, 2001.
cheap and easy-to-use tests that can identify characteristics The National Cancer Institute Web site provides updates on cancer trials
about each patients cancer that indicate the best treatment that are using angiogenesis inhibitors: www.cancertrials.nci.nih.gov