Antiangiogenesis: Focus on colorectal cancer
Briggs S., Midgley R.
© 2014 Future Medicine Ltd. All rights reserved. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK, and represents a significant burden of disease. While there have been few recent advances with traditional therapies, the last few years have seen a rapid expansion of targeted agents, most notably those targeting VEGF, in particular bevacizumab, as treatments providing significant improvements in outcome, particularly in the setting of metastatic disease. However, results in adjuvant therapy have been disappointing and cost remains a major barrier to more widespread use. Many agents are now in varying stages of development as the field continues to expand. The potential benefits of antiangiogenics in colorectal cancer will be improved greatly by the development of methods for stratifying the population and identification of appropriate biomarkers, currently a key area of investigation.