New Treatment Modalities For Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Objective: Age-related macular degeneration(AMD)is one of the leading causes for severe and irreversible vision loss.Choroidal neovascularization(CNV)is an important pathological change in AMD.It most often occurs in the macular area,leading to a severe loss of vision and even blindness.So far,researchers at home and abroad have conducted many research on AMD,but its pathogenesis,with multiple factors involved,is still not fully elucidated.With more in-depth researches,many new therapeutic methods for AMD have been developed,bringing new hope for AMD patients,especially the invention of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),which was regarded as a major breakthrough.Now anti-VEGF injection has become the standard practice in the treatment of neovascular diseases.It can effectively inhibit the occurrence and development of CNV and rescue the vision of such patients.However,due to its short half life,repeated injections are needed,and the long-term effects are not ideal.Moreover,VEGF is only one of many important factors involved in the CNV pathogenesis.Such treatment regime that targets only a single factor cannot fundamentally prevent the development of the disease.Therefore,how to achieve greatest benefit in vision and reduce the treatment burden,and prevent retinal atrophy are still challenges for clinical treatment of AMD.This review summarizes the currently available anti-VEGF drugs and highlights multidimensional drugs targeting signal pathway of new blood vessel in order to provide patients with more effective treatment.