Targeting hypoxia in tumor: a new promising therapeutic strategy

Low oxygen condition (hypoxia) is considered a hallmark of rapidly growing solid tumors. The presence of hypoxia renders tumor cells resistant to conventional chemo- and radio-therapy selecting a more malignant and invasive phenotype, and playing a negative role in patient prognosis. This commentary wishes to recognize the 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to three physicians-scientists, Prof. William G. Kaelin Jr, Prof. Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, and Prof. Gregg L. Semenza, for their discovery of the mechanisms mediating cell ability to sense and adapt to changes in oxygen availability. Their studies established the basis for our understanding of the role of hypoxia in a variety of diseases, including anemia, renal failure, cardiovascular disease, metabolic diseases, and cancer, paving the way for new promising therapeutic strategies through the development of drugs that can either activate or block the oxygen-sensing machinery.