Therapeutics to block several of the VEGF signalling components as well as NRP function have been developed with the aim of halting blood vessel formation, angiogenesis, in diseases that involve tissue growth and inflammation, such as cancer.
Therefore, the detection of sEPCR in cancer and during the post-treatment period could be taken into account as an additional marker that could re-inforce the one obtained using CA125 alone as a marker of cancer cell mass.
NRP1 and cancer cell invasion, angiogenesis, and signaling pathways were studied using NRP1 stimulation by vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (VEGF(165)) and NRP1 inhibition by small interfering RNAs (siRNA), soluble NRP1 (sNRP1), and NRP1-inhibition peptides.
These results suggest that NRP-1 is not only associated with oncogenesis, but also with ovarian cancer malignancy, and this molecule is a targeting candidate for the treatment of ovarian malignancies.
Although NP1 is expressed in carcinoma cells, its functions have remained elusive, and neither SEMA3A nor plexin expression has been explored in cancer.