Small molecule inhibitors of tumor-promoted angiogenesis, including protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Angiogenesis is an exciting and promising new area of research. The concept that tumor cells are absolutely dependent upon neovascularization to grow and metastasize has opened the door to a multitude of new approaches and ta rgets for developing anticancer therapies. These potential new antiangiogen ic therapies offer the possibility for improved efficacy and reduced toxici ty relative to conventional cancer treatments without the possibility of dr ug resistance. In particular, reports of small molecule inhibitors of tumor -promoted angiogenesis are appearing ever more frequently in the scientific literature. For this reason, the major focus of this review will be to cov er small molecule inhibitors of tumor-promoted angiogenesis. The present re view concentrates on selected literature, principally from mid-1996 to mid- 1998, where there are sufficient biological data to support claims of antia ngiogenic activities by small molecules. In addition, a historical backgrou nd is presented and some of the important issues related to this field are (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.