The idea of anti-angiogenic therapy was the brain child of Dr. Judah Folkman in the early 1970s. He proposed that by cutting the blood supply off, cancer cells can be deprived of nutrients and hence treated. His efforts were paid off when Bevacizumab (Avastin®), a monoclonal antibody against the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was first approved for anti-angiogenic therapy in 2004 for the treatment of breast cancer. Since then, an array of anti-angiogenic inhibitors were developed, used in clinical trials and many got approved for use for the treatment of multiple cancers, alone or in combination with other cytotoxic/chemotherapy drugs. Despite this important breakthrough, anti-angiogenic therapy for cancer met with a number of hurdles on its way to be one of the options for cancer therapy. Herein, we summarize the latest update on the current knowledge on the mechanisms of tumor angiogenesis, pro- and anti-angiogenic factors, potential targets and their mechanisms of action, experimental evidences and the most recent data on the clinical trials on anti-angiogenic agents for cancer therapy.

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Regardless of practice setting, it is imperative that pharmacists be able to either participate in generating new knowledge or use the ever-expanding body of literature to guide patient care. However, competing priorities in Pharm.D. curricula and residency training programs have resulted in limited emphasis on acquiring research and scholarly skills. Factors likely contributing to this reduced focus include the lack of curricular and postgraduate training standards emphasizing the development of research skills, time to commit to scholarly activity, and accessibility to experienced mentors. Strategies for increasing scholarly activity for pharmacy students and residents should therefore continue to be a focus of professional degree and residency training programs. Several resources are available for academic planners, program directors, and institutions to augment scholarly experience for pharmacy trainees and clinicians. This commentary highlights the importance of providing research opportunities for students and residents, describes the potential barriers to these activities, and provides recommendations on how to increase the instruction and mentoring of trainees to generate and use research.

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