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What are the Latest Macular Degeneration Treatments?

What are the Latest Macular Degeneration Treatments?

Wet AMD

Wet AMD

If your friend or loved one has age-related macular degeneration (AMD), his or her view of the world may be like the blurry picture shown here, or worse. The latest treatments for the "wet" type of AMD aim to prevent further vision deterioration.

Today, eye doctors have more macular degeneration treatments to offer to their patients than at any other time. In recent years, the most dramatic treatment progress has come in the area of "neovascular," or "wet" age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Wet AMD is the most aggressive type of AMD. It has the potential to cause rapid deterioration of vision, especially when left untreated. The cause of the vision loss is the growth of new blood vessels underneath parts of the retina where they do not belong. The biologic process by which these new, unwanted vessels form is called "angiogenesis."

In our bodies, there is good and bad angiogenesis. For example, angiogenesis is necessary for wound healing and restoring blood flow to injured or diseased tissues. On the other hand, angiogenesis plays a negative role in wet AMD and other serious diseases and conditions, such as cancer. Our bodies contain a large number of substances that either stimulate or block angiogenesis. When these substances are in balance, angiogenesis happens only when it should. When they are out of balance, such as in AMD and cancer, angiogenesis is destructive. In cancer, the new blood vessels nourish tumors, allowing them to survive and grow. In wet AMD, the new blood vessels invade the macula, the central part of the retina responsible for our straight-ahead vision. In addition, the vessels are fragile; therefore, they tend to leak blood and fluid into the retina, damaging it and disrupting its normal functioning.

How is Angiogenesis Targeted in Macular Degeneration Treatment?

A milestone in angiogenesis research has been the discovery that a family of proteins named "vascular endothelial growth factor" (VEGF) is a powerful stimulator of angiogenesis. Armed with this information, scientists have been able to create a new kind of treatment for macular degeneration called "VEGF inhibitors." Your eye doctor may also refer to these latest macular degeneration treatments with other similar terms, such as "anti-VEGF agents" or "VEGF blockers." These medicines interact with VEGF, impairing its ability to stimulate the growth of harmful new blood vessels underneath the retina.

Two of these new macular degeneration treatments have received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The first to be approved was pegaptanib sodium. Known as Macugen, it became available to doctors and their patients in 2004. The second macular degeneration treatment in this category to receive FDA approval was ranibizumab. Known as Lucentis, it became available to doctors and their patients in 2006.

Both of these macular degeneration treatments were tested in large clinical trials. Patients in the Macugen trials lost less vision on average than patients who did not receive the treatment. In the trials for Lucentis, the most recently approved macular degeneration treatment, vision stabilized in 95% of patients. Also, approximately 40% of patients experienced an improvement in vision of three or more lines (15 letters) on the visual acuity chart, the best results achieved by any approved treatment for macular degeneration so far.

How Are the Latest Macular Degeneration Treatments Given?

All of the available anti-VEGF agents are injected into the eye. This may sound scary at first, but your eye doctor will numb your eye before administering the medication. To most patients with wet AMD, the eye injections are preferable to the risk of losing vision.

If your eye doctor chooses an anti-VEGF treatment for macular degeneration for you, it is important that you return for follow-up care as instructed. In most cases, repeat injections are necessary in order to maintain the positive effects.

Hope for the future? New clinical trials.

NeoVista, Inc. is a company that is developing an intraocular epiretinal radiation device intended for the treatment of the wet form of age-related macular degeneration. If you, or someone you know, are interested in participating in the CABERNET Trial, please follow the link below:

Learn more about the CABERNET Trial

 

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