Vascular endothelial growth factor and immunosuppression in cancer: current knowledge and potential for new therapy.
Two decades of research into the role of immunosuppression and angiogenesis in tumor biology have revealed multiple links between the two. Vascular endothelial growth factor, originally thought to be solely involved in vascular growth and permeability, has emerged as a significant agent of immune tolerance in the tumor microenvironment. This review examines two major elements of this field: the research behind the role of vascular endothelial growth factor in immunosuppression, especially as pertains to dendritic cell function; and the subsequent research into the potential for using antiangiogenic therapy to both starve tumors by hypoxia and enhance the response of tumors to immunotherapy. Several strategies tested so far have yielded incomplete, yet promising, results.
Johnson
Benjamin F
BF
Duke University Medical Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Program in Molecular Therapeutics, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Box 2606, Durham, NC 27710, USA. ben.johnson@duke.edu
Clay
Timothy M
TM
Hobeika
Amy C
AC
Lyerly
H Kim
HK
Morse
Michael A
MA
D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D007167:Immunotherapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*
D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000068258:Bevacizumab