Angiogenic Therapy of the Human Heart

The field of angiogenesis research was initiated 27 years ago by a hypothesis that tumors are angiogenesis-dependent.1 Shortly thereafter, in the early 1970s, it became possible to passage vascular endothelial cells in vitro for the first time.2 Bioassays for angiogenesis were developed subsequently throughout that decade. The early 1980s saw the purification of the first angiogenic factors.3 4 5 6 By the mid-1980s, angiogenesis inhibitors began to be discovered.7 8 9 Translation of these laboratory findings to clinical application started in 1989, when interferon alfa was first used for the treatment of life-threatening hemangiomas in infants.10 11 12 Clinical applications of angiogenesis research are being pursued along three general lines: (1) prognostic markers in cancer patients,13 14 (2) antiangiogenic therapy (for review, see Reference 1515 ), and (3) angiogenic therapy. The first angiogenic therapy of ischemic vascular disease was the administration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/vascular permeability factor to patients with severe peripheral vascular disease in …