Back to Journals » OncoTargets and Therapy » Volume 4

Rationale for targeting VEGF, FGF, and PDGF for the treatment of NSCLC

Authors Ballas, Chachoua

Published 30 May 2011 Volume 2011:4 Pages 43—58

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/OTT.S18155

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



Marc S Ballas1, Abraham Chachoua2
1Department of Medicine (Cancer Center), New York University Langone School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; 2Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, New York University Langone School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

Abstract: Lung cancer remains a leading cause of death globally, with the most frequent type, nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), having a 5-year survival rate of less than 20%. While platinum-based doublet chemotherapy is currently first-line therapy for advanced disease, it is associated with only modest clinical benefits at the cost of significant toxicities. In an effort to overcome these limitations, recent research has focused on targeted therapies, with recently approved agents targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathways. However, these agents (gefitinib, erlotinib, and bevacizumab) provide antitumor activity for only a small proportion of patients, and patients whose tumors respond inevitably develop resistance to treatment. As angiogenesis is a crucial step in tumor growth and metastasis, antiangiogenic treatments might be expected to have antitumor activity. Important targets for the development of novel antiangiogenic therapies include VEGF, fibroblast growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, and their receptors. It is hypothesized that targeting multiple angiogenic pathways may not only improve antitumor activity but also reduce the risk of resistance. Several novel agents, such as BIBF 1120, sorafenib, sunitinib, and cediranib have shown promising preliminary activity and tolerability in Phase II studies, and results of ongoing Phase III randomized studies will be necessary to establish the potential place of these new therapies in the management of individual patients with NSCLC.

Keywords: angiogenesis, vascular endothelial growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, tyrosine kinase inhibitor, nonsmall cell lung cancer

Creative Commons License © 2011 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.