Vascular Detransformation for Cancer Therapy

Yi Fan1

  • 1Departments of Radiation Oncology and Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Institute for Immunology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

Trends in Cancer
|August 19, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Cancer vascularity may be driven by endothelial transformation, not just angiogenesis. Targeting this "vascular detransformation" could offer a new therapeutic strategy against cancer, overcoming current treatment limitations.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Biology
  • Vascular Biology

Background:

  • Angiogenesis is a critical hallmark of cancer.
  • Current anti-vascular therapies targeting angiogenic factors show limited success in most cancers.
  • Alternative mechanisms driving tumor vascularity require investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose endothelial transformation as a key driver of tumor vascularity.
  • To explore endothelial transformation's role in cancer progression and immune suppression.
  • To investigate endothelial transformation's contribution to therapeutic resistance.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual review of existing literature on angiogenesis and endothelial cell biology.
  • Hypothesis generation based on observed limitations of current anti-angiogenic therapies.
  • Proposed framework for understanding vascular abnormalities in cancer.

Main Results:

  • Endothelial transformation is hypothesized to drive excessive and abnormal tumor vascularity.
  • This transformation contributes to cancer progression and immune evasion.
  • It also underlies resistance to existing cancer therapies.

Conclusions:

  • Vascular detransformation, reversing endothelial transformation, presents a novel therapeutic strategy.
  • This approach may overcome limitations of current anti-angiogenic treatments.
  • Targeting vascular detransformation holds promise for improving cancer treatment outcomes.

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