Why Angiogenesis Inhibitors
Are important

New blood vessel formation through angiogenesis is essential to life. A constant blood supply to healthy tissues in the body such as skin, cartilage, and bone provides oxygen and nutrients for survival.

In the case of cancer, tumors need a blood supply to survive. The same processes that maintain normal life can get out of balance and support cancerous cells.

Chemicals in the body help regulate angiogenesis by stimulating activator and inhibitor molecules.

	Activator Molecules accelerate cell growth Inhibitor Molecules slow cell growth.
Image courtesy of the National Cancer Institute

Most of the time, molecules blocking growth are more active in the body than molecules supporting growth. In normal tissues, the effects of activator (proangiogenic) molecules are perfectly counterbalanced with the necessary level of inhibitor (anti-angiogenic) molecules to create homeostasis.

But in the case of cancer and other situations (such as fetal development in the womb, menstruation, and wound healing), angiogenesis activators increase and the inhibitors decrease in order to prompt the formation of new blood vessels.

For cancer to grow there must be more activators than inhibitors. Scientists have determined that tumors initiate angiogenesis by releasing growth factors into the surrounding tissue.