Francesco Bertolini1
(1) Division of Hematology–Oncology, Department of Medicine, European Institute of Oncology, via Ripamonti 435, 20141 Milan, Italy
Published online: 8 December 2007
Abstract Anti-angiogenic drugs, alone or in combination with chemotherapeutics, are increasingly used by medical oncologists. In many cases, however, their mechanism of action and the tailoring of optimal dosage/schedule are still elusive. Circulating endothelial cell (CEC) and progenitor (CEP) number and viability are modulated in a large series of diseases including cancer, and look promising as surrogate biomarkers for the definition of the optimal biological dose of anti-angiogenic drugs and for patients’ stratification. Along with CECs and CEPs, potential EC- and CEP-related surrogate molecular markers such as VE-Cadherin and CD133 are currently under preclinical and clinical investigation.
Keywords Angiogenesis - Endothelial cells - Endothelial progenitors
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