Angiogenesis and Treatment with Endostatin

The term angiogenesis refers to the growth of new blood vessels, a natural process which occurs in the body.  Healthy bodies produce the “right” amount of new blood vessels, used to heal wounds or restore blood flow to tissues after injury.  Thanks to naturally occurring “on” and “off” switches, healthy bodies either stimulate or inhibit growth of new blood cells as needed. 

However, when serious diseases like cancer are present in the body, it loses control of angiogenesis.  That means new blood vessel production can be either excessive or insufficient.  Mesothelioma patients or those with other forms of cancer tend to produce too many new blood vessels.  That means new blood vessels feed diseased tissues, destroy normal tissues and, in turn, the new vessels allow tumor cells to escape into the circulation and lodge in other organs, allowing the disease to spread or metastasize. 

Antiangiogenic therapies continue to be developed to combat this complication of cancer.  The drug Endostatin has proved to be successful in many cases.  Endostatin, according to its manufacturers, is a natural antiangiogenic protein that has been shown to inhibit the growth of blood vessels, thereby starving cancerous tumors.  Furthermore, in pre-clinical trials, the manufacturer reports that the repeated administration of Endostatin consistently shrank primary tumors and, unlike traditional chemotherapy, showed no drug resistance over time.

Currently still in the clinical trial period, Endostatin is often administered in tandem with another drug called angiostatin, a combination which proved quite effective in fighting cancer in mice and inhibiting the growth of new tumors.  Currently, side effects are few but researchers continue to study both the advantages and dangers of long-term use of Endostatin.