New biological treatments for gynecological tumors: focus on angiogenesis

Introduction: Gynecological tumors are a group of heterogeneous malignancies, with only modest results having been observed thus far with chemotherapy in advanced disease. New insights from pathobiology of these tumors have shed new light on potential new therapeutic targets. Angiogenesis is one of the most important processes involved in tumorigenesis, and effective treatments targeting the angiogenic machinery are now available. Areas covered: In this review, we will focus on angiogenesis as a therapeutic target in gynecological cancer patients. After a brief introduction on the angiogenesis machinery involvement in these malignancies, the most recent clinical data will be discussed. Expert opinion: Although clinical data with antiangiogenics are ground-breaking in several tumors such as ovarian epithelial cancer, overall efficacy of these agents is far from what was initially envisaged. As with other molecular targeted agents, selection of patients who may benefit from these agents will surely contribute to demonstrating better results. However, this does not diminish the clinical relevance of the above-mentioned results in a difficult field such as gynecological malignancies.