Giatromanolaki Alexandra, Sivridis Efthimios, Koukourakis Michael I
Department of Pathology, Democritus University of Thrace Medical School, Alexandroupolis, Greece.
Am J Clin Oncol. 2006 Aug;29(4):408-17. doi: 10.1097/01.coc.0000221317.56731.4e.
Angiogenesis is important for tumor growth and metastasis. This account reviews the clinicopathological studies conducted in the field of angiogenesis in colorectal cancer, the methods of assessing vascular-related characteristics in tissue sections and provides a background for the usefulness of antiangiogenic policies along with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Highly angiogenic colorectal tumors are associated with aggressive histopathological features and poor patients' survival. Similarly, factors stimulating angiogenesis, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), thymidine phosphorylase (TP), and others, are commonly related to increased vascular density (VD) and, therefore, to an unfavorable clinical course. Anti-VEGF agents have improved prognosis in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, when added to standard chemotherapy. It is expected that, in addition to adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy, agents blocking the stimulatory effect of VEGF on endothelial cells would prove beneficial to the patient.
血管生成对肿瘤生长和转移至关重要。本文综述了在结直肠癌血管生成领域开展的临床病理研究、评估组织切片中血管相关特征的方法，并为抗血管生成策略联合化疗和放疗的有效性提供了背景信息。高度血管生成的结直肠癌肿瘤与侵袭性组织病理学特征及患者不良生存相关。同样，刺激血管生成的因子，如血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）、胸苷磷酸化酶（TP）等，通常与血管密度（VD）增加相关，因此与不良临床病程相关。抗VEGF药物在添加到标准化疗中时，改善了转移性结直肠癌患者的预后。预计除辅助化疗和放疗外，阻断VEGF对内皮细胞刺激作用的药物将对患者有益。
