Drugs that block cancer blood vessel growth (anti angiogenics)

This page tells you about anti angiogenesis treatments (angiogenesis inhibitors). These are a type of biological therapy. There is information about

What anti angiogenesis treatment is
Types of anti angiogenesis treatment

A cancer needs a blood supply to bring food and oxygen and remove waste products. When it has reached 1 to 2mm across, it needs to grow its own blood vessels in order to continue to get bigger.

Angiogenesis means the growth of new blood vessels. So anti angiogenic drugs are biological therapies that stop tumours from growing their own blood vessels.

There are different types of drugs that block blood vessel growth, including

Drugs that block the growth factor from reaching the cell
Drugs that block signalling within the cell
Drugs that affect signals between cells

Drugs that block the growth factor from reaching the cell

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the main proteins involved in making blood vessels. Some cancer cells make too much VEGF. It latches on to receptors on the cell surface, telling the cell to grow and make more blood vessels. By blocking VEGF, we can stop the receptors from sending these signals and so stop blood vessels from growing.

A drug that blocks VEGF is bevacizumab (Avastin). It is also a monoclonal antibody.

Drugs that block signalling within the cell

Once a receptor on a cell surface has been triggered, other chemical signals are sent inside the cell to tell it to grow blood vessels. Some treatments block this signalling process. These treatments are also called cancer growth blockers or tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).

Sunitinib (Sutent) is a TKI. It blocks signals inside cancer cells that trigger the growth of blood vessels. Sutent is used to treat kidney cancer and a rare type of stomach cancer called gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST).

Drugs that affect signals between cells

Another treatment that affects the formation of blood vessels is thalidomide. Thalidomide affects the chemicals that cells use to signal to one another. Researchers are still looking into exactly how it works. We know that it is helpful for myeloma. Trials are also looking at whether it is helpful for other types of cancer.

Look at our clinical trials database for thalidomide trials – type 'thalidomide' into the search box. You can find more information about thalidomide for myeloma in the treating myeloma section.

Doctors are also developing other drugs similar to thalidomide that may cause fewer side effects. One of these is lenalidomide (Revlimid). To find trials using anti angiogenesis treatment go to the clinical trials database and type 'angiogenesis' into the search box.

There is detailed information about how a cancer gets its blood supply in the about cancer section of CancerHelp UK.