Anti-VEGF Therapy Revived by c-Met Inhibition, But Is c-Met the Answer?

A new study by Sennino and colleagues demonstrates that selective VEGF inhibition via the use of an anti-VEGF antibody is sufficient to increase invasion and metastasis in a c-Met-dependent manner. Anti-VEGF therapy induced tumor hypoxia, hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha, and c-Met activation in the RIP-Tag2 model of neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer. Selective c-Met inhibition was sufficient to block these effects, providing a potential mechanism for and solution to overcome increased invasion in the face of anti-VEGF therapy. Cancer Discovery; 2(3); 211-3. (c) 2012 AACR.