One of the most promising areas of cancer treatment today is also among the most perplexing. A new class of anti-cancer drugs works by interfering with the formation of microvessels which deliver blood to the tumor mass. This starves tumor cells of oxygen and nutrients, interferes with the elimination of cellular wastes, shuts-down routes of tumor metastasis, and potentially aids in the delivery of other types of anti-cancer drugs to the tumor mass.
The problem is that the new drugs – called anti-angiogenesis drugs – work for only a small percentage of patients. Moreover, they can cause serious side effects in some patients and they are extremely expensive – well over $100,000 per year of treatment. Anti-angiogenesis drugs are being used more and more frequently in a widening range of cancer types and so the cost to the healthcare system and to individual patients who must pay for insurance co-payments threatens to be staggering. In fact, several new drugs have now shown anti-angiogenesis activity and these are being combined with standard drugs and with other targeted drugs to produce the maximum therapeutic benefit. The race is on, therefore, to develop tests that can determine which patients could benefit from anti-angiogenesis therapy, which anti-angiogenesis drugs are best for which patients, and which other drugs should be administered concurrently in order to achieve the best result for each patient.
The the AngioRx profile, using microvascular viability assay, invented by Dr. Weisenthal and used exclusively at Weisenthal Cancer Group is the only laboratory test published to date which identifies anti-angiogenic drug activity in live tumor micro-clusters. It is also the only test capable of discriminating anti-tumor effect from anti-angiogenic effect in the same mixed-cell population. It is also the only known technology which discriminates the effects of different types of anti-angiogenic drugs within the same class of drugs and within different classes of drugs. It is also the only known test which is capable of identifying synergistic effects among different angiogenic and non-angiogenic drugs in specific drug combinations.
Bibliography relevant to AngioRx/Microvascular Viability (MVV) assay
1. Weisenthal, L. M. Patel,N., Rueff-Weisenthal, C. (2008). "Cell culture detection of microvascular cell death in clinical specimens of human neoplasms and peripheral blood." J Intern Med 264: 275-287, 2008. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2796.2008.01955.x
2. Weisenthal, L., Lee,DJ, and Patel,N. (2008). Antivascular activity of lapatinib and bevacizumab in primary microcluster cultures of breast cancer and other human neoplasms. ASCO 2008 Breast Cancer Symposium. Washington, D.C.: Abstract # 166.
3. Weisenthal, L. M. (2010). Antitumor and anti-microvascular effects of sorafenib in fresh human tumor culture in comparison with other putative tyrosine kinase inhibitors. J Clin Oncol 28, 2010 (suppl; abstr e13617)
4. Weisenthal, L., H. Liu, Rueff-Weisenthal, C. (2010). "Death of human tumor endothelial cells in vitro through a probable calcium-associated mechanism induced by bevacizumab and detected via a novel method." Nature Precedings 28 May 2010.
5. Eur J Clin Invest, Volume 37 (suppl. 1):60, 2007
6. Nagourney, R.A. Functional Profiling of Human Tumors in Primary Culture: A Platform for Drug Discovery and Therapy Selection (AACR: Apr 2008-AB-1546)
7. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2006 ASCO Annual Meeting Proceedings Part I. Vol 24, No. 18S (June 20 Supplement), 2006: 17117
http://www.cancerfocus.org/files/Ava...growth.003.jpg