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Angiogenesis in Disease: The Big Picture
In many serious diseases states the body loses control over angiogenesis.
Angiogenesis-dependent diseases result when new blood vessels either grow
excessively or insufficiently.
Excessive
angiogenesis:
- Occurs in diseases such
as cancer, diabetic blindness, age-related macular degeneration, rheumatoid
arthritis, psoriasis, and more than 70 other conditions.
- In these conditions, new
blood vessels feed diseased tissues, destroy normal tissues, and in
the case of cancer, the new vessels allow tumor cells to escape into
the circulation and lodge in other organs (tumor metastases).
- Excessive angiogenesis occurs
when diseased cells produce abnormal amounts of angiogenic growth factors,
overwhelming the effects of natural angiogenesis inhibitors.
- Antiangiogenic therapies,
aimed at halting new blood vessel growth, are used to treat
these conditions.
Insufficient
angiogenesis:
- Occurs in diseases such
as coronary artery disease, stroke, and chronic wounds.
- In these conditions,
blood vessel growth is inadequate, and circulation is not properly restored, leading
to the risk of tissue death.
- Insufficient angiogenesis
occurs when tissues cannot produce adequate amounts of angiogenic
growth factors.
- Therapeutic angiogenesis,
aimed at stimulating new blood vessel growth with growth factors, is
being developed to treat these conditions.
Angiogenesis
is a disease common denominator
Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels, is a "common denominator"
shared by diseases affecting more than one billion people worldwide. This includes all cancers, cardiovascular disease, blindness, arthritis, complications
of AIDS, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and more than 70 other major health
conditions affecting children and adults in developed and developing
nations. Our vision is that angiogenesis-based therapies are a unifying
approach to disease and will have the same impact in the 21st century that
antibiotics had in the 20th century.
Last updated September 7, 2011
References:
Folkman J. Angiogenesis in cancer, vascular, rheumatoid and other disease. Nat Med 1995; 1:27-31
Li WW, Li VW, Casey R, et al. Clinical trials of angiogenesis-based therapies: overview and new guiding principles, in Angiogenesis: Models, Modulators and Clinical Application. Maragoudakis M, ed. Plenum Press, New York, NY 1998, pp.475-492.
Li WW, Li VW and Tsakayannis D. Emerging concepts and lessons from clinical trials of angiotherapy. The New Angiotherapy (TP Fan and EC Kohn, Editors) Humana Press, 2001, p. 547-571. |
