Contact: Kelly C. Scheer, Public Relations, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, 313-966-0872, scheerk@karmanos.org

Use of Imaging in Assessing Angiogenesis Drugs Reviewed

Designing clinical trials of angiogenesis drugs--drugs intended to cut off the growth of tumors' blood vessels--is difficult because it can take a long time for a drug's effect to be observed. Because antiangiogenic and antineovascular therapies are designed to affect the abnormal blood vessels found in tumors, changes in factors, such as blood volume and blood flow, may be promising biomarkers that herald a positive clinical response to therapy.

In a review article, Janet C. Miller, D.Phil., of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues examine the validity and reproducibility of different imaging methods, including magnetic resonance imaging, optical imaging, positron emission tomography, ultrasound, and x-ray computed tomography, that have been used for imaging angiogenic vasculature.

Contact: Susan R. McGreevey, Public Affairs Office, Massachusetts General Hospital, 617-724-2764, smcgreevey@partners.org

Also in the February 2 JNCI: