The VEGF Pathway in Cancer and Disease: Responses, Resistance, and the Path Forward
- 1Department of Pediatric Medical Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
- 2Division of Pediatric Oncology, Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
- 3Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
- 4Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Stanford University and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford, California 94305
- Correspondence: mark_kieran{at}dfci.harvard.edu
Abstract
Antiangiogenesis was proposed as a novel target for the treatment of cancer 40 years ago. Since the original hypothesis put forward by Judah Folkman in 1971, factors that mediate angiogenesis, their cellular targets, many of the pathways they signal, and inhibitors of the cytokines and receptors have been identified. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the most prominent among the angiogenic cytokines and is believed to play a central role in the process of neovascularization, both in cancer as well as other inflammatory diseases. This article reviews the biology of VEGF and its receptors, the use of anti-VEGF approaches in clinical disease, the toxicity of these therapies, and the resistance mechanisms that have limited the activity of these agents when used as monotherapy.
- Copyright © 2012 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved
