Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 15, Issue 4, 2009

Angiogenesis is a complex process of development of new vessels from pre-existing vasculature. In human pathology, neovascularization is associated with excessive or insufficient vessel growth that results in initiation and development of a variety of diseases. The major pharmacological approach for the investigation of excessive angiogenesis is directed to designing new pharmaceutics to inhibit patholog Read More

In a landmark publication of 1971, Folkman proposed antiangiogenesis as a potential target in cancer biology [1]. Over the past 30 years most research on tumor angiogenesis has been aimed at inhibiting the process of tumorinduced vessel formation. The first angiogenesis inhibitor, bevacizumab, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2004 for the treatment of metastatic carcinoma of the colon-rectu Read More

Malignant gliomas, the most common subtype of primary brain tumor, are aggressive, highly invasive, and neurologically destructive. First-line treatment of gliomas consists of surgery and radiotherapy, followed by chemotherapy with temozolomide. However, even with this strong regimen, the prognosis of patients with the most malignant variant, glioblastoma multiforme is poor. Because of the lack of effective treatments a Read More

Angiogenesis during reactive and pathologic processes is characteristically associated with inflammation. Macrophages and dendritic cells present in the inflammatory infiltrate contribute to the angiogenic process by multiple mechanisms. Macrophages produce a broad array of angiogenic growth factors and cytokines, generate conduits for blood flow through proteolytic mechanisms, and promote the remodeling of arteriol Read More

Angiogenesis is tightly regulated by opposing mechanisms in mammalian cells and is controlled by the angiogenic switch. Other review articles have described a central role for the PTEN/PI-3 kinase/AKT signaling node in the coordinate control of cell division, tumor growth, apoptosis, invasion and cellular metabolism [1, 2]. In this review, we focus on literature that supports the PTEN/PI-3 kinase/AKT signaling node as a Read More

In the last fifteen years different extracellular matrix proteins and cleavage products have been identified. These molecules possess the ability to regulate vascular development, repair and function. However, the concept is still inconsistent and only partially understood. In this review, we will focus on angiogenesis regulation by extracellular matrix processing. Therefore, possible regulatory mechanisms in vascular biology cont Read More

Peripheral artery disease is characterized by reduced blood flow to the lower limb, resulting in chronic ischemia in these muscles, which can lead to eventual amputation of the affected limb. Stimulation of angiogenesis in the ischemic region would be of therapeutic benefit; however, attempts to increase angiogenesis through delivery of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) largely have been unsuccessful. Recent studies hav Read More

Neuroblastic Tumors is a group of pediatric cancers with a high incidence in the preschool age. Neuroblastic Tumors are classified in several histological categories but neuroblastoma, composed by undifferentiated cell without stromal tissue is the most aggressive disseminated tumor occurring in patients over 18 months of age. Neuroblastoma attracted the attention of scientists since the middle century because meta Read More

Immunotherapy is an attractive option for patients with high risk neuroblastoma due to their poor long-term survival rates after conventional treatment. Neuroblastoma cells are derived from the embryonic neural crest and therefore express tumor antigens not widely seen in normal cells, making them potential targets for immunologic attack. There is already considerable experience with monoclonal antibodies that target Read More

Evasion of apoptosis, the cell's intrinsic death program, is a hallmark of human cancers including neuroblastoma. Also, failure to undergo apoptosis may cause treatment resistance, since the cytotoxic activity of anticancer therapies commonly used in the clinic, e.g. chemotherapy, γ-irradiation or immunotherapy, is predominantly mediated by triggering apoptosis in tumor cells. Therefore, a better understanding of the signaling Read More

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are an emerging class of novel anti-cancer drug targets. Recently, studies in adult cancers and in neuroblastoma have shown that individual HDAC family members are aberrantly expressed in tumors and correlate with disease stage and prognosis. In neuroblastoma, knockdown of individual HDAC family members causes distinct phenotypes ranging from differentiation to apoptosis. HD Read More

Neuroblastoma is an extracranial solid tumor which occurs in infants and young children and accounts for 8% of pediatric cancers. It origins from neural crest cells of the sympathetic nervous system. Disease-free survival ranges from 95% for localized tumors to 30% for metastatic disease in children over 1 year of age and patients' outcome depends on dissemination and tissue histology. Despite the most recent therapies, the Read More

Neuroblastoma arises from precursor cells of the sympathetic nervous system and presently accounts for 15% of all childhood cancer deaths. These tumors display remarkable heterogeneity in clinical behavior, ranging from spontaneous regression to rapid progression and resistance to therapy. The clinical behavior of these tumors is associated with many factors, including patient age, histopathology and genetic abnorm Read More