title: Vascular remodeling in cancer.
abstract: The growth and dissemination of tumors rely on an altered vascular network, which supports their survival and expansion and provides accessibility to the vasculature and a route of transport for metastasizing tumor cells. The remodeling of vascular structures through generation of new vessels (for example, via tumor angiogenesis) is a well studied, even if still quite poorly understood, process in human cancer. Antiangiogenic therapies have provided insight into the contribution of angiogenesis to the biology of human tumors, yet have also revealed the ease with which resistance to antiangiogenic drugs can develop, presumably involving alterations to vascular signaling mechanisms. Furthermore, cellular and/or molecular changes to pre-existing vessels could represent subtle pre-metastatic alterations to the vasculature, which are important for cancer progression. These changes, and associated molecular markers, may forecast the behavior of individual tumors and contribute to the early detection, diagnosis and prognosis of cancer. This review, which primarily focuses on the blood vasculature, explores current knowledge of how tumor vessels can be remodeled, and the cellular and molecular events responsible for this process.
authors.affiliation: Protein Interaction and Cancer Research Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Farnsworth
authors.affiliation: Protein Interaction and Cancer Research Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lackmann
authors.affiliation: 1] Tumour Angiogenesis Program, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [2] Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Achen
authors.affiliation: 1] Tumour Angiogenesis Program, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [2] Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Stacker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D063646:Carcinogenesis; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000098:blood supply; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic