Oncologic Angiogenesis Imaging in the clinic---how and why

Area of Science:

• Biomedical engineering
• Vascular biology
• Medical imaging

Background:

• Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, is crucial in disease but challenging to control therapeutically.
• Translational research in anti-angiogenic therapies has faced hurdles, with limited clinical benefits observed despite FDA-approved treatments.
• Non-invasive imaging of angiogenesis is needed for clinical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current status and future potential of clinical angiogenesis imaging.
• To highlight the role of imaging in patient selection, risk stratification, and therapy monitoring for anti-angiogenic treatments.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on angiogenesis imaging techniques.
• Analysis of current clinical applications and future research directions.

Main Results:

• Several anti-angiogenic drugs are approved, but their clinical impact is still under evaluation.
• Angiogenesis imaging could enable personalized medicine approaches for cancer and other diseases.
• Imaging can potentially guide treatment decisions and assess therapeutic response.

Conclusions:

• Clinical implementation of angiogenesis imaging holds significant promise for improving therapeutic outcomes.
• Further development and validation of imaging modalities are essential for widespread clinical adoption.
• Angiogenesis imaging is poised to become an indispensable tool in managing angiogenesis-related diseases.