Angiogenesis in Cancers

Dear Colleagues,

The interaction between neoplastic cells and blood vessels, both newly formed during angiogenesis or pre-existing normal vessels, is one of the fundamental biological events involved in the development and progression of most solid and hematological tumors and the formation of metastases. Tumor angiogenesis is viewed as the consequence of an angiogenic switch, i.e., a genetic event that endows the tumor with the ability to recruit blood vessels from the neighboring tissue. The newly formed tumor blood vessels have specific characteristics that allow discrimination from resting blood vessels. They are characterized by rapid proliferation, increased permeability, and disorganized architecture. Initially thought to be a must for the growth and progression of tumors, the formation of new vessels was regarded as one of the hallmarks of cancer. However, this has turned out not to be the case, as it was discovered that tumors can also grow without neo-angiogenesis, mainly by co-opting pre-existing vessels but also through vascular mimicry. Since its discovery by Dr. Judah Folkman, tumor angiogenesis has been proposed as a target for novel tumor therapies. However, the success in the clinic of anti-angiogenic compounds has been limited in contrast to many preclinical results obtained in animal models. This is in part due to the fact that tumors can be non-angiogenic and in part due to several newly discovered mechanisms of resistance due both to the biology of the cancer cells and of the endothelium.

Dr. Domenico Ribatti
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.