Tumors depend on new blood vessel formation for growth and spread.  This process, known as angiogenesis, is an attractive target for cancer therapy.  Unfortunately, antiangiogenic agents have proven less efficacious than anticipated.  Preclinical results suggest that combinations of antiangiogenic agents and radiation may have great therapeutic utility; however, it remains unclear how these treatment modalities interact and how best to integrate them.

Dr. Kozak [Damon Runyon-Genentech Clinical Investigator] will use biochemical, cellular and animal models to develop strategies to optimally integrate antiangiogenic therapies with radiation.  Positron emission tomography (PET) will be used for non-invasive monitoring of angiogenesis in mouse tumor models, and these results will be correlated to treatment responses.  Guided by results of these studies, he plans to initiate a pilot human trial of antiangiogenic therapy to determine if PET imaging can identify a therapeutic window during which radiation may be particularly effective.  The proposed project represents an integrated “bench-to-bedside” effort to optimize antiangiogenic therapy.

 

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Project Title: "Radiosensitization with antiangiogenic therapy"

Institution: University of Wisconsin

Sponsor(s) / Mentor(s): Paul M. Harari, MD

Cancer Type: All cancers

Research Area: Experimental Therapeutics