Anti-Angiogenic Therapy for Colorectal Cancer: On the Way to Getting Better!

Based on the theory that tumor growth and metastasis depend on vessels to provide oxygen and nutrients, antiangiogenic therapy was thought as a promising approach to cure cancer: Bevacizumab is the first validated angiogenesis inhibitor, when combined with conventional treatments, which can enhance antitumor effects and prolong survival for patients with colorectal cancer. However, recent years, bevacizumab and other angiogenesis inhibitors are more discussed with drug-resistance and the diverse test results. Fortunately, antiangiogenic strategy is more than bevacizumab and more than anti-vascular endothelial growth factor. Dozens of compounds that potently inhibit neoplastic blood vessels formation with different mechanisms have been developed, and many of them are being tested clinically for colorectal cancer: This review will numerate the principal antiangiogenic drugs with various mechanisms, recapitulate the information of studying these drugs for colorectal cancer treatment and try to clue better usage of antiangiogenic therapy for patients with colorectal cancer in the future.