Biomarkers for Anti-angiogenic Therapy

The introduction of anti-angiogenic therapy has changed the clinical practice in a number of human malignancies. Despite this success, anti-angiogenic therapy frequently has only transient effects, with acquired drug resistance and tumor progression quickly to follow. The heterogeneous response to anti-angiogenic therapy has created a need for predictive biomarkers. This chapter reviews potential biomarkers for anti-angiogenic therapy focusing on tissue-based, blood-based, genetic, and epigenetic markers and lastly drug-related toxicity and imaging to determine therapeutic efficacy. Most studies summarized here were performed retrospectively in relatively small patient cohorts. Further confirmation in prospective and randomized clinical trials to establish superiority of one or a combination of biomarkers remains hence an ongoing task.