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Author:
Lisa Ginger

All tissues need to be continually bathed in nutrients. They get these nutrients from the continuous flow of blood through blood vessels. This is why blood vessels run throughout our entire bodies. An aggressive tumor can take advantage of this fact.

Tumors can actually induce new blood vessels to form within them so that they can receive nutrients. This process is called angiogenesis. Make no mistake, it's eerie. The tumor cells actually stimulate the cells lining nearby blood vessels to grow toward them. They achieve this by sending out a signal. This signal stimulates the cells within the nearest blood vessels to divide 20 to 2000 times faster than usual. Due to their unnaturally quick growth, the new blood vessels are usually not quite normal and much less effective at carrying blood, but they can still provide the necessary nutrients to the tumor.

All tumors consisting of more than about one million cells have reached a point where they must achieve angiogenesis. Otherwise, the tumor will not have enough nutrients to continue growing and will stay the same size confined to that location. Therefore, many researchers have focused their efforts the area of angiogenesis.

It is hoped that scientists will find a way to stop the process of tumor angiogenesis. If a tumor's growth could be halted it would essentially become harmless. A tumor smaller than a pea would most likely not even be noticed - and would probably not have any harmful effects on the individual (although this can depend on its location). Even in a tumor that had progressed to a larger size, halting angiogenesis might halt its growth and would help prevent it from spreading. This would be incredibly beneficial to a patient diagnosed with cancer. A tumor's growth could be halted and then if possible, it could be surgically removed, or eradicated by chemotherapy.

About the author:

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| Article Keywords: Nutrient Basics

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