Progress in research of natural products targeting VEGF/VEGFR for cancer therapy / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Cancer is one of the major harmful diseases threatening human health and life. Development of angiogenesis inhibitors targeting tumor angiogenesis has become an important topic in the field of antitumor. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a primary factor in growth and differentiation of vascular endothelial cell, plays an important role in angiogenesis. VEGF receptors include vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1) and VEGFR2. VEGF/VEGFR2 signaling pathway is a critical pathway in regulating tumor angiogenesis. The amount of new blood vessels in tumor could be reduced and the proliferation, invasion, metastasis of tumor could be inhibited by treatment targeting VEGF/VEGFR. Traditional Chinese medicine possesses characteristic in the treatment of cancer, and it has huge potential in screening and developing tumor-angiogenesis inhibitors. Progress in research of natural products targeting VEGF/VEGFR was reviewed in this paper to provide reference for further study and development of these products.