Dry age-related macular degeneration: recent progress of therapeutic approaches.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive retinal degenerative disease and a common cause of blindness. In AMD, there are two phenotypes; "atrophic (dry)" and "neovascular (wet)". The former is characterized by the geographic atrophy due to death of retinal pigment epithelium, and the latter is developed due to choroidal neovascularization. While wet AMD can be treated by the inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor or photodynamic therapy, so far there are no available treatments for dry AMD. Fortunately, understanding of pathogenesis in dry AMD has significantly been progressed and many candidates for the treatment of dry AMD have been introduced in clinical trials as well as preclinical stages. In this article, the progress of therapeutic approaches for dry AMD is reviewed.