Vasculogenic mimicry:a novel target for glioma therapy

作     者：Yin-Sheng Chen Zhong-Ping Chen 

作者机构：Department of Neurosurgery/Neuro-oncologySun Yat-sen University Cancer Center State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine 

出 版 物：《Chinese Journal of Cancer》 (Chinese Journal of Cancer)

年 卷 期：2014年第33卷第2期

页      面：74-79页

核心收录：

学科分类：1002[医学-临床医学] 100214[医学-肿瘤学] 10[医学] 

主　　题：抗血管生成 脑胶质瘤 治疗 拟态 神经胶质瘤 微血管密度 肿瘤细胞 内皮细胞 

摘      要：Anti-angiogenic therapy has shown promising but insufficient efficacy on gliomas. Recent studies suggest that vasculogenic mimicry(VM), or the formation of non-endothelial, tumor-cell-lined microvascular channels, occurs in aggressive tumors, including gliomas. There is also evidence of a physiological connection between the endothelial-lined vasculature and VM channels. Tumor cells, by virtue of their high plasticity, can form vessel-like structures themselves, which may function as blood supply networks. Our previous study on gliomas showed that microvessel density was comparably less in VM-positive tumors than in VM-negative tumors. Thus, VM may act as a complement to ensure tumor blood supply, especially in regions with less microvessel density. Patients with VM-positive gliomas survived a shorter period of time than did patients with VM-negative gliomas. Although the detailed molecular mechanisms for VM are not fully understood, glioma stem cells might play a key role, since they are involved in tumor tissue remodeling and contribute to neovascularization via transdifferentiation. In the future, successful treatment of gliomas should involve targeting both VM and angiogenesis. In this review, we summarize the progress and challenges of VM in gliomas.