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Vascular mimicry: changing the therapeutic paradigms in cancer

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Abstract

Cancer is a major problem in the health system, and despite many efforts to effectively treat it, none has yet been fully successful. Angiogenesis and metastasis are considered as major challenges in the treatment of various cancers. Researchers have struggled to succeed with anti-angiogenesis drugs for the effective treatment of cancer, although new challenges have emerged in the treatment with the emergence of resistance to anti-angiogenesis and anti-metastatic drugs. Numerous studies have shown that different cancers can resist anti-angiogenesis drugs in a new process called vascular mimicry (VM). The studies have revealed that cells resistant to anti-angiogenesis cancer therapies are more capable of forming VMs in the in vivo and in vitro environment, although there is a link between the presence of VM and poor clinical outcomes. Given the importance of the VM in the challenges facing cancer treatment, researchers are trying to identify factors that prevent the formation of these structures. In this review article, it is attempted to provide a comprehensive overview of the molecules and main signaling pathways involved in VM phenomena, as well as the agents currently being identified as anti-VM and the role of VM in response to treatment and prognosis of cancer patients.

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Acknowledgements

This work financially supported by the Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute (SCARM) and Research Vice-Chancellor of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (Ph.D. Thesis No. 59577).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Nazila Fathi Maroufi, Mohammad-Reza Rashidi & Mohammad Nouri

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Clinical Laboratories, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Nazila Fathi Maroufi & Narmin Mokarizadeh

  3. Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Nazila Fathi Maroufi

  4. Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Sina Taefehshokr, Alireza Isazadeh & Behzad Baradaran

  5. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Human Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Nima Taefehshokr

  6. Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Mahdieh Khoshakhlagh

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  1. Nazila Fathi Maroufi
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  2. Sina Taefehshokr
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  3. Mohammad-Reza Rashidi
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  8. Behzad Baradaran
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  9. Mohammad Nouri
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Correspondence to Mohammad Nouri.

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Fathi Maroufi, N., Taefehshokr, S., Rashidi, MR. et al. Vascular mimicry: changing the therapeutic paradigms in cancer. Mol Biol Rep 47, 4749–4765 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-020-05515-2

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