肿瘤血管正常化与肿瘤治疗

Tumor blood vessel normalization and antitumor therapy

传统的抗血管生成疗法的目的在于阻断有助于肿瘤生长和转移的营养通道。虽然这类药物已在临床上应用多年,但其治疗效果仍存在争议,并可能会进一步增加化疗药物耐药性的产生。造成这一现象的原因可能是由于促血管生长因子的过度表达和释放,使得肿瘤组织血管呈现出一种结构和功能异常的状态。基于此,有学者提出了肿瘤血管的正常化理论。诸多研究显示,肿瘤血管正常化可以作为抗肿瘤治疗的补充疗法。本文着重讨论肿瘤血管正常化的分子机制、临床优势以及仍待解决的问题,以便为肿瘤研究工作者及正在研发肿瘤血管抑制剂的制药企业提供有益的参考。

Traditional anti-angiogenesis strategies attempt to limit the blood supply to tumor and hence inhibit tumor growth. Although such therapeutic strategies have been used in clinical practice for many years, their effects are still controversial because they may lead to drug resistance. As a result of excessive production of angiogenic molecules, the tumor vessels become abnormal in structure and function. Based on these findings, some researchers have proposed a theory of normalization of tumor blood vessels. The evidence from preclinical and initial clinical trials revealed that normalization of tumor blood vessels could be considered as a complementary therapy to treat tumor. In this article, the mechanisms, benefits, and possible clinical translation of vessel normalization for tumor, which may provide some beneficial references for investigators and pharmaceutical companies involved in this research area, were discussed.