Roles of VEGF and Dll4-Notch signaling pathways in tumor angiogenesis / 国际肿瘤学杂志

ABSTRACT

Anti-angiogenesis therapies have emerged as new treatment strategies for several types of tumors. To date, the most studied programs are to find out effective medicines to block the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway. However, VEGF inhibitors are not effective to all kinds of tumors.Thus there is a need to explore other angiogenesis signaling pathways. Recently, the Dll4-Notch pathway was identified as a new target in tumor angiogenesis. Moreover, an important feature in angiogenesis is the manifold ways in which the VEGF and Dll4-Notch pathways interact each other, which play critical roles in tumor angiogenesis. Therefore, the further exploration of these two pathways will provide more therapies for clinic to treat tumors.