Designing Therapies That Target Tumor Blood Vessels

Abstract

Traditional cancer treatments seek to attack cancer cells directly, with surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy. But a new wave of therapies is attempting an indirect strike: shutting off the blood vessels through which tumors get the oxygen and nutrients they need to live and grow. Recent work suggests that this might be done with drugs, some naturally occurring, that can prevent tumors from forming the new blood vessels they need. Alternately, as a report appearing on page 547 suggests, it might be possible to shrink or even eliminate tumors by administering agents that trigger clot formation in tumor-feeding vessels.