Thalidomide in the treatment of cancer.

Thalidomide caused severe malformations in babies born to mothers taking the drug for morning sickness in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It is now known that these teratogenic effects are due to potent anti-angiogenic and immunomodulatory actions. These properties have lead to the testing of thalidomide in a number of infective, inflammatory and malignant conditions. Promising activity has been reported in myeloma, AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma, renal cell carcinoma and glioblastoma multiforme. A review is presented of the history of thalidomide and its recent development with an emphasis on applications in malignant disease.