title: Antiangiogenic agents in advanced, persistent or recurrent endometrial cancer: a novel treatment option.
abstract: The limited efficacy of endocrine therapy and chemotherapy has stimulated several researches aimed to detect novel molecularly target therapies for advanced, persistent or recurrent endometrial cancer. Prior attempts to block vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) with sunitinib, sorafenib and thalidomide have obtained disappointing results. Bevacizumab has shown a promising activity in a phase II study. The percentages of patients with progression-free survival ≥6 months were similar for endometrioid (35%) and serous carcinoma (36%), but the number of cases was too small to assess the relevance of histological type for response to bevacizumab. In a phase II study, aflibercept was administered every 2 weeks to women with recurrent or persistent disease after chemotherapy. Forty-one percent of the patients were progression-free at 6 months, but 32% of the women had been removed from study because of toxicity. The detection of activating mutations of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor (FGFR)-2 in primary endometrial carcinoma has generated a new avenue for the development of molecularly target agents. Dovitinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting both VEGF receptor (VEGFR) and FGFRs, is under clinical investigation in different malignancies including endometrial cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Division of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Pisa, Pisa 56127, Italy. a.gadducci@obgyn.med.unipi.it
authors.forename: Angiolo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gadducci
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sergiampietri
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guiggi
mesh_terms: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018269:Carcinoma, Endometrioid / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D018284:Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors