Martins SF, Reis RM, Rodrigues AM, Baltazar F, Filho AL. Role of endoglin and VEGF family expression in colorectal cancer prognosis and anti-angiogenic therapies. World J Clin Oncol 2011; 2(6): 272-280 [PMID: 21773077 DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v2.i6.272]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Professor Adhemar Longatto Filho, Laboratory of Medical Investigation (LIM) 14, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil. longatto@ecsaude.uminho.pt
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Oncol. Jun 10, 2011; 2(6): 272-280 Published online Jun 10, 2011. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v2.i6.272
Role of endoglin and VEGF family expression in colorectal cancer prognosis and anti-angiogenic therapies
Sandra F Martins, Rui M Reis, Antonio Mesquita Rodrigues, Fátima Baltazar, Adhemar Longatto Filho
Sandra F Martins, Rui M Reis, Fátima Baltazar, Adhemar Longatto Filho, Life and Health Sciences Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Portugal - Campos of Gualtar - 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Sandra F Martins, Antonio Mesquita Rodrigues, Coloproctology Unit – Hospital Braga, Portugal
Rui M Reis, Molecular Oncology Research Center, Barretos Cancer Hospital, CEP 14784-400, Barretos, S. Paulo, Brazil
Adhemar Longatto Filho, Laboratory of Medical Investigation (LIM) 14, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil Author contributions: Martins SF, Reis RM, Baltazar F, Mesquita Rodrigues A, Longatto-Filho A designed the structure of the review; Martins FS and Longatto-Filho A wrote the initial draft of the manuscript; Martins SF, Reis RM, Baltazar F, Mesquita Rodrigues A, Longatto-Filho A wrote the final version of the manuscript.
Correspondence to: Professor Adhemar Longatto Filho, Laboratory of Medical Investigation (LIM) 14, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil. longatto@ecsaude.uminho.pt
Telephone: + 351-969690729 Fax: + 351-253-604847
Received: February 9, 2011 Revised: March 2, 2011 Accepted: April 5, 2011 Published online: June 10, 2011
Abstract
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the cancer models and most of the carcinogenic steps are presently well understood. Therefore, successful preventive measures are currently used in medical practice. However, CRC is still an important public health problem as it is the third most common cancer and the fourth most frequent cause of cancer death worldwide. Nowadays, pathologic stage is a unique and well-recognized prognostic indicator, however, more accurate indicators of the biologic behavior of CRC are expected to improve the specificity of medical treatment. Angiogenesis plays an important role in the growth and progression of cancer but its role as a prognostic factor is still controversial. Probably the most important clinical implication of tumor angiogenesis is the development of anti-angiogenic therapy. The goal of this review is to critically evaluate the role of angiogenic markers, assessed by either endoglin-related microvessel density or expression of vascular endothelial growth factor family members in the CRC setting and discuss the role of these angiogenic markers in anti-angiogenic therapies.
