Still other angiogenesis inhibitors have been manufactured synthetically in the laboratory. Currently, more than forty antiangiogenic drugs are being tested in human cancer patients in clinical trials sponsored by biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, medical centers and by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. These clinical trials are taking place in the United States, Canada, Australia, and throughout Europe. To learn more about clinical trials of antiangiogenic therapy, we invite you to join the Patient Information Network . Antiangiogenic Therapy Differs From Conventional Chemotherapy Conventional chemotherapy kills all dividing cells in the body, aiming to do the most damage to dividing cancer cells.
Some chemotherapy regimens work very well at treating cancers that are diagnosed early.
Antiangiogenic therapy attacks only growing new blood vessel cells. Since blood vessels do not grow in normal healthy tissues, the effect of antiangiogenic therapy is concentrated only at the cancer site. Most antiangiogenic drugs do not kill cancer cells directly. As a result, antiangiogenic drugs are well-tolerated compared to chemotherapy, with fewer and less severe side effects. To keep cancers from regrowing, patients may need to take antiangiogenic drugs as a chronic therapy for the rest of their life.