Inhibitors of Angiogenesis in Cancer Therapy - Synthesis and Biological Activity

Angiogenesis is the process of formation of new capillaries from preexisting blood vessels. Angiogenesis is involved in normal physiological processes, and plays an important role in tumor invasion and development of metastases. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a key role in angiogenesis. VEGF is a mitogen for vascular endothelial cells and stimulates their proliferation. By inhibiting the biological activity of VEGF, and then signal cascades with neutralizing VEGF antibodies and signal inhibitors, may negatively regulate the growth and metastasis. Anti-angiogenesis therapy is less toxic than chemotherapy. Angiogenesis is a multistep and multifactorial process, and therefore, can be blocked at different levels. In this review article, the authors present the synthesis of novel inhibitors of angiogenesis, together with the results of biological tests in vitro, and in some cases, state trials.