New Developments in Anti-Angiogenic Therapy of Cancer, Review and Update

Abstract

Background: Angiogenesis is one of the critical physiological processes, by which the new blood vessels are generated from the pre-existing vessels in the early stage of vasculogenesis. While normal angiogenesis is critical for development and tissue growth, pathologic angiogenesis is important for the growth and spread of cancers by supplying nutrients and oxygen as well as providing a conduit for distant metastasis. In the last two decades, angiogenesis has been the area of extensive researches, indicating antiangiogenic target therapy as an effective strategy for cancer therapy. At present, this field has become a major avenue for research and development of novel therapeutics. Objective: This review is dedicated to an updated review of the most prominent antiangiogenic agents, emphasizing the novel advancements and their applications, in particular, in the fields of antibodies, peptides, vaccines, endogenous inhibitors, Nanoparticles (NPs), antiangiogenic oligonucleotides and small molecules. Also, the potential role of 3D microfluidic models as an affordable and time-saving tool for angiogenesis investigations are discussed. Methods: Firstly, we collected and summarized new developments that have occurred in all review and research articles in databases. Then, we used important keywords related to antiangiogenic target therapy and their applications for retrieval of most relevant data. Results: This review is based on recent research and review articles and intended to cover all newly discovered agents inhibiting tumor angiogenesis and in particular, VEGF. Conclusion: New research studies have shown that anti-angiogenesis agents especially, in the form of combination therapy are effective in various cancers treatment.