The potential of targeted antiangiogenesis therapies in the treatment of esophageal cancer

Abstract:

Esophageal cancer is one of the most lethal cancers worldwide and its incidence is increasing at an alarming rate. Despite advances in surgical techniques and combined multimodality therapy, the survival rate of esophageal cancer remains poor. Clearly, the time is ripe for introducing novel strategies such as targeted therapies to improve treatment outcome. The significance of angiogenesis and angiogenic factors in the progression and aggressiveness of esophageal cancer is well documented. However, although increasing numbers of antiangiogenic agents designed to inhibit angiogenesis through multiple mechanisms have been developed in the past few decades, and some of them have shown promising results in preclinical and clinical studies, there is as yet no antiangiogenic agent approved for esophageal cancer. This review provides a summary of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis, the molecular mechanisms that regulate these processes, and the strategies for targeting angiogenesis in tumors. We will also present the rationale and challenges of antiangiogenic therapy, and the antiangiogenic agents that have been tested in preclinical studies or clinical trials for esophageal cancer. With further research bringing a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in angiogenesis, and as new angiogenesis-targeting agents continue to evolve, there are reasons to be optimistic that targeting angiogenesis may bring new opportunities to cure this highly lethal disease.

Keywords::

• esophageal cancer
• angiogenesis
• vascular endothelial growth factor
• targeted therapies

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by General Research Funds from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China (project numbers HKU 763111M and HKU 17103814).

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.