In fact, angiogenesis is a healthy process. But in people with cancer, the process of formation of new blood vessels will make the tumor blood vessels have their own network that will make him grow fast and ferocious.
Anti-angiogenesis therapy that aims to stop the formation of new blood vessels. Because no blood supply, tumor cells / cancer will die. Without having their own blood vessels, tumors can grow only up to one millimeter.
Unfortunately, the cancer cells out chemicals that trigger the growth of new blood vessels. For example, a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF will stick to the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), which then grow and form new blood vessels. New blood vessels that will make cancer cells grow rapidly, more and more took VEGF, and in turn trigger further growth of new blood vessel network again.
Anti-angiogenesis research is started to be developed in 1999 is likely to bring this therapy to the important position to stop the growth of tumors.
Patients with brain cancer, breast cancer, kidney cancer, melanoma, and several other types of cancer clinical trials that follow an anti-angiogenesis growth halted most illness, could partly even smaller.
Has so far found about 300 types of substances that can inhibit angiogenesis. There was derived from the human body itself (interferon alpha / beta / gamma, interleukin-12, retinoids, heparinas, etc.), there are derived from natural (green tea, soy, mushrooms, garlic, ginseng, fish fins, snake venom, tree bark, etc.), there is also a man-made synthetic (bevacizumab, sunitinib, sorafenib, etc.).
They work in a way different. There's inhibiting the formation of new blood vessels, there is a long time attacking the blood vessels that provide blood supply to the cancer tissue (and therefore starve), there is also a direct attack cancer cells and stop the blood supply (some types of chemotherapy drugs when given in low doses it can effect of anti-angiogenesis).
Side Effects
If the chemotherapy works to destroy cells that divide rapidly (not only cancer cells but also healthy cells in other body parts that cause various side effects), drug-anti-angiogenesis drugs only work in the area of cancer blood vessels . Not affect a healthy body part, because adult cells are healthy and normally do not form new blood vessels. Besides already known that the structure of cancer blood vessels differ from normal vascular structures.
Yet anti-angiogenesis therapy also has side effects. What is unclear why (because the history of its use are still very short), some cancer patients who received this therapy showed improvement in the risk of bleeding, intestinal perforation, and increased blood pressure. Also unclear whether all the anti-angiogenesis drugs will result in that, because of the 300 substances that have been found above, only a small portion that has been used as medicine.
To be sure, because this treatment works to prevent the formation of blood vessels and new tissue, of course, must be stopped at the time of patients undergoing surgery until a few weeks later. Also, should not be given to pregnant women and children.
Fact that chemotherapy and anti-angiogenesis work in a different way to give new hope that they can be given together to enhance recovery.
