Role of the IL-6/Jak/Stat Pathway in Tumor Angiogenesis: Influence of Estrogen Status

Abstract

Solid tumors, despite being hypervascularized, are hypoxic. This is due to the imbalance that exists between the inputs of the blood vessels that supply nutrients and O2 and that remove metabolic waste products, on one side; and the demands of the tumor cells that are part of the neoplasm that is forming, on the other. From this perspective, we briefly review the sequence of morphological events that occur during neo-angiogenesis; what chemical mediators are involved in this process; and we emphasize how the IL-6/Jak/Stat signaling pathway is involved in the control of these mediators. At the same time, we review how estrogens intervene in this control procedure, and how it opens the door to understanding the mechanism of action of these mediators. This would make it possible to propose alternative treatments, which can be added to the conventional ones, and which would exploit the findings described here in the search for new antitumor therapies.