Content of research

Thanks to the development of molecular targeted therapies, antiangiogenic agents are now widely used. However, there are problems such as the lack of companion diagnostics to predict therapeutic effects and side effects due to injury to normal blood vessels.
We have successfully isolated and cultured human tumor vascular endothelial cells and have identified specific markers that they express. Tumor vascular endothelial cells expressing these markers are valuable materials for cell-based screening of novel drugs and compounds, and help us identify new therapeutic targets and drugs that cannot be discovered by studies using conventional tumor cell lines or clinical tumor tissue fragments. Markers expressed by these tumor vascular endothelial cells can also be used as companion diagnostics. This will contribute to the realization of personalized treatment by selecting the target cases as well as the timing and duration of administration with angiogenesis inhibitors.

Potential for social implementation

• ・Development of new anticancer drugs
• ・Development of companion diagnostics for antiangiogenic therapy
• ・Screening system for angiogenesis inhibitors

Appealing points to industry and local governments

There is a dire need for new angiogenesis inhibitors acting specifically on cancer blood vessels. We believe that tumor vascular endothelial markers will lead to the realization of new personalized cancer therapy and companion diagnostics. We have clarified the specificity of tumor blood vessels from various angles, and are studying strategies to selectively target drug resistance, cancer stem cells and tumor blood vessels involved in metastasis.