Patent ID: 6596276
Filing Date: 2003-07-22
Classification: A61K,C07K

Abstract:
A method for inhibiting tumor angiogenesis mediated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and integrin cell surface receptors expressed in the vasculature of a living subject wherein said subject has a tumor, said method comprising the steps of:allowing mobile VEGF secreted by a tumor mass present within the body of a living subject to become bound in-vivo to the surface of endothelial cells in a tumor-associated blood vessel, permitting said bound VEGF to induce the expression of specific integrin heterodimers on the endothelial cell surface of the tumor-associated blood vessel in-vivo, said specifically induced and expressed integrin heterodimers being selected from the group consisting of integrins composed of &agr;1 and &agr;2 integrin subunits; and then administering to the living subject at least one function-blocking antagonistic antibody preparation effective against said specifically induced and expressed specified integrin heterodimers on the endothelial cell surface of the tumor-associated blood vessel such that tumor angiogenesis is inhibited in-vivo, said function-blocking antagonistic preparation comprising at least one antibody specific for an integrin subunit selected from the group consisting of the &agr;1 and &agr;2 integrin subunits.