Treating diabetic retinopathy by inhibiting growth factor pathways.

The hypothesis that soluble vasoproliferative growth factors cause new blood vessel growth (neovascularization) in proliferative diabetic retinopathy and other proliferative diseases of the retina was first proposed by Isaac Michaelson in 1948. Until recently, laser photocoagulation has been the preferred treatment for these diseases. VEGF, first identified in 1983 and associated with diabetic retinopathy in 1994, has been the focus of increasing research in this field. Several types of anti-VEGF molecules are being evaluated for efficacy; however, it is becoming evident that VEGF may not be the only, or even the major, molecule responsible for diabetic macular edema.