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CancerQuest > Introduction to Cancer Biology > Angiogenesis > Section Summary: Angiogenesis

Section Summary: Angiogenesis

Tumor Angiogenesis

• Cancer cells require adequate nutrition and oxygen.
• Tumors can not get larger than a fraction of an inch unless they develop a blood supply.
• When oxygen levels get low, tumor cells can produce factors, including VEGF, that induce angiogenesis.
• The cells that produce the vessels are normal, not cancerous.
• The blood vessels produced are not perfectly normal.

Angiogenesis Inhibitors

• The first angiogenesis inhibitors discovered were proteins that occur naturally in the body.
• Angiogenesis is a common feature of many cancers so drugs developed to inhibit this should be able to work on different cancer types.
• Antibodies that prevent angiogenesis have been developed and approved for use in cancer treatment.
• Many different angiogenesis inhibitors are being investigated as potential cancer drugs.
• Because the cells that are affected by angiogenesis inhibitors are normal drug resistance may be less likely to occur.