Anti-angiogenesis drugs were all the rage in the late 1990s, when animal studies showed two drugs seemingly "melting" tumors in mice. But disappointing human clinical trials since then have scaled back expectations, and most now see such drugs as part of a treatment milieu that includes surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. More recent study results, however, Dr. Iozzo says, have renewed interest in the drugs' potential.

Dr. Iozzo says that these results suggest that endorepellin might be used to help prevent metastatic cancer spread in patients who have had a primary tumor removed. "It could be used preventatively and for maintenance, and in combination with other drugs," he notes.

"While endorepellin prevents the formation of the original blood vessels in tumor development, I think it would be more effectively used after the tumor has formed and cells try to migrate and spread," Dr. Iozzo says. The researchers are hoping to begin clinical testing of endorepellin in the near future.

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Contact: Steve Benowitz
steven.benowitz@jefferson.edu
215-955-5291
Thomas Jefferson University
14-Nov-2006

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