Antiangiogenic agents in the treatment of nonsmall cell lung cancer: reality and hope

Purpose of review Angiogenesis is critical for tumor growth and progression. Strategies to inhibit angiogenesis have gained a strong foothold for the treatment of a variety of malignancies. This review will provide the relevant interventions targeted against specific angiogenesis pathways with or without known effective therapies for nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Recent findings Bevacizumab, a mAb against the vascular endothelial growth factor, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with advanced stage nonsquamous NSCLC in combination with the carboplatin-paclitaxel regimen. This has prompted the evaluation of a variety of novel agents for the treatment of NSCLC. Agents that inhibit the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase are currently under extensive investigation, but the initial results with combination strategies have not been encouraging. Identification of predictive biomarkers for antiangiogenic agents continues to be elusive and remains a major focus of ongoing research. Apart from vascular endothelial growth factor, other targets within the angiogenic pathway are also being evaluated in the clinical setting. Summary In this article, we review the recent data with antiangiogenic agents in NSCLC and their implications for clinical use and future research.