Ribatti Domenico
Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, University of Bari Medical School, Bari, Italy.
Endothelium. 2008 Jan-Feb;15(1):1-8. doi: 10.1080/10623320802092377.
Napoleone Ferrara and his colleagues at Genentech were the first to isolate and clone vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in 1989. His laboratory has investigated many aspects of VEGF biochemistry and molecular biology. In 1993, Ferrara reported that inhibition of VEGF-induced angiogenesis by specific monoclonal antibodies resulted in dramatic suppression of the growth of a variety of tumors in vivo. These findings provided an important evidence that inhibition of angiogenesis may suppress tumor growth and blocking VEGF action could have therapeutic value for a variety of malignancies and validate the notion introduced in 1971 by Judah Folkman that inhibition of tumor angiogenesis might be a valid approach to control tumor growth. A further development was the design in a rational fashion in 1997 of a humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody (Avastin), now in clinical trials as a treatment for several solid tumors and also outside of cancer, for example, in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration.
1989年，基因泰克公司的拿破仑·费拉拉及其同事首次分离并克隆出血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）。他的实验室对VEGF生物化学和分子生物学的诸多方面进行了研究。1993年，费拉拉报告称，特异性单克隆抗体抑制VEGF诱导的血管生成会导致多种肿瘤在体内生长显著受抑。这些发现提供了重要证据，表明抑制血管生成可能会抑制肿瘤生长，阻断VEGF作用可能对多种恶性肿瘤具有治疗价值，并证实了犹大·福克曼在1971年提出的观点，即抑制肿瘤血管生成可能是控制肿瘤生长的有效方法。进一步的进展是在1997年合理设计出一种人源化抗VEGF单克隆抗体（阿瓦斯汀），目前该抗体正在进行临床试验，用于治疗多种实体瘤，也用于癌症以外的领域，例如治疗年龄相关性黄斑变性。
