Profile of Soluble and Cellular Biomarkers and of Functional Imaging During Antiangiogenic Therapies in Cancer Patients
Status:
Terminated
Trial end date:
2014-10-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Tumour angiogenesis has been identified to play a critical role in tumour growth and this
knowledge has led to the identification of new targets for cancer therapy. Multiple
angiogenic factors are involved in the regulation of angiogenesis, among them VEGF (vascular
endothelial growth factor) and its receptor are of crucial relevance. The inhibition of VEGF
signaling by monoclonal antibodies or small molecules (kinase inhibitors) has already been
successfully established for the treatment of different cancer entities and multiple new
drugs are being tested in clinical trials. The ever-expanding list of antiangiogenic agents
being available in the near future will raise the questions when to use which agent and in
which sequence. As a consequence biomarkers are going to be indispensible tools for choosing
the most effective drugs and to predict dosing and resistance.
The present project is based on an academic clinical trial in which patients suffering from
different cancer types (colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell cancer and
hepatocellular cancer) treated routinely with antiangiogenic agents will be included.
Consecutive serum and blood probes will be taken and will be examined and correlated with
functional imaging and the clinical course. The following parameters have been selected:
soluble markers in the plasma (VEGF, bFGF, ICAM, sVGFR-2 IL-8, SDF1 and Dickkopf 3) and
cellular parameters like circulating endothelial cells (CEC) and circulating endothelial
progenitor cells (CEPs).
In conclusion, the present project is screening for potential biomarkers and biomarker
combinations relevant for antiangiogenic drugs in different tumour types. The predictive
value of such profiles should then be evaluated in larger cohorts. In the future such
profiles could possibly help clinicians to use these agents more effectively and therefore
also more economically.