title: Angiogenesis-related agents in esophageal cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Esophageal cancer is an aggressive disease with poor prognosis. The majority of the patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage and many with early stage disease will develop recurrent disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Angiogenesis is essential to the progress and aggressiveness of solid malignancies. Success of anti-angiogenic therapy in colorectal, lung and breast cancers is a proof of principle. Thus far, evidence for benefit from anti-angiogenic therapy in esophageal cancer is lacking. Several Phase II trials with different agents have provided mixed results and the only Phase III trial in the esophageal and gastric cancer failed to show that these agents improve overall survival (OS). However, lack of observed benefit could be due to the challenges specific to the management of esophageal cancers as well as issues with the design of clinical trials for anti-angiogenic therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An understanding of the biology of the esophageal cancer and its management is essential to the development of anti-angiogenic therapy in this disease. This article reviews the management of esophageal cancer and elaborates on the challenges in the development of anti-angiogenic therapy in esophageal cancer. At the end, strategies are proposed for successful development of anti-angiogenic therapy in esophageal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Keck School of Medicine, Medical Oncology, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, 1414 Eastlake Ave. Suite 3440, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. barzi@usc.edu
authors.forename: Afsaneh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barzi
authors.forename: Heinz-Josef
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lenz
mesh_terms: D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012307:Risk Factors