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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2005;293:1051.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

While antiangiogenic therapy made a splash in the 1990s with its success in eradicating cancerous tumors in mice, the agents, when used alone, have fared poorly in the clinic. It seems that the drugs’ ability to block formation of new blood vessels to bring oxygen and nutrients to tumors is not enough to combat established tumors in humans.

Looking back, this therapeutic failure is not surprising, says chemical engineer-turned-tumor biologist Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston. An antiangiogenic agent "can kill many to most cancer cells, but the remaining cancer cells will begin to make new angiogenic molecules and new blood vessels will come up again," he said.

Rakesh K. Jain, PhD (Photo credit: E. L. Steele Laboratory/Massachusetts General Hospital)

But, research pioneered by Jain and colleagues suggests that another effect of antiangiogenic agents might be useful in treating cancer. Because such . . . [Full Text of this Article]