TY - JOUR
T1 - Anti-VEGF therapy
T2 - The search for clinical biomarkers
AU - Longo, Raffaele
AU - Gasparini, Giampietro
PY - 2008/5
Y1 - 2008/5
N2 - Despite the large diffusion and rapid development of anti-VEGF therapy in clinical practice and in contrast to the consolidated evidence with imatinib and trastuzumab that demonstrated a direct correlation between pre-treatment target expression and drug activity, it is very difficult, at present, to identify validated and useful biomarkers to monitor the efficacy of these compounds and to appropriately select patients most likely to benefit from such treatments. However, emerging data suggest that this is not presently feasible for antiangiogenic drugs. Although tumoral and/or circulating VEGF levels have been associated with tumor progression and/or poor prognosis, to date, there is no validated evidence suggesting their role as potential predictive biomarkers of response to anti-VEGF therapy. Recently, many studies have documented promising results with the evaluation of circulating endothelial cells and/or progenitors, and the use of several imaging techniques, such as dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, PET, dynamic CT scan and functional ultrasound. These preliminary data need a validation in larger prospective trials.
AB - Despite the large diffusion and rapid development of anti-VEGF therapy in clinical practice and in contrast to the consolidated evidence with imatinib and trastuzumab that demonstrated a direct correlation between pre-treatment target expression and drug activity, it is very difficult, at present, to identify validated and useful biomarkers to monitor the efficacy of these compounds and to appropriately select patients most likely to benefit from such treatments. However, emerging data suggest that this is not presently feasible for antiangiogenic drugs. Although tumoral and/or circulating VEGF levels have been associated with tumor progression and/or poor prognosis, to date, there is no validated evidence suggesting their role as potential predictive biomarkers of response to anti-VEGF therapy. Recently, many studies have documented promising results with the evaluation of circulating endothelial cells and/or progenitors, and the use of several imaging techniques, such as dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, PET, dynamic CT scan and functional ultrasound. These preliminary data need a validation in larger prospective trials.
KW - Angiogenesis
KW - Bevacizumab
KW - Sorafenib
KW - Sunitinib
KW - Vatalanib
KW - VEGF
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U2 - 10.1586/14737159.8.3.301
DO - 10.1586/14737159.8.3.301
M3 - Article
C2 - 18598109
AN - SCOPUS:44249108138
VL - 8
SP - 301
EP - 314
JO - Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics
JF - Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics
SN - 1473-7159
IS - 3
ER -