Abstract
Tumors stimulate angiogenesis to meet increasing nutrient and oxygen demands. In addition to their role in vascular remodeling, pro-angiogenic cytokines and effector cells contribute to an immune-inhibitory environment associated with advanced malignancies. Despite the critical role of angiogenesis in tumor growth and dissemination, most anti-angiogenic cancer therapies have had only limited success selectively targeting one of the many factors implicated in this process. Similarly, the effectiveness of tumor immunotherapies has been limited by tumor-mediated escape mechanisms and immune suppression. By combining the two strategies, however, anti-angiogenic immunotherapy offers the possibility to more robustly inhibit tumor angiogenesis and simultaneously impact the immune-inhibitory effects of the pro-angiogenic tumor milieu. These potential synergies make the combination of immunotherapy and anti-angiogenic treatment a promising avenue for future research.