Each tissue in the body receives a supply of oxygen-rich blood from the arteries, which is then carried back into the lungs by veins for future oxygenation. Beginning in utero, tissues throughout the body carry out angiogenesis -- the growth of new blood vessels from existing vessels. Angiogenesis also has a number of implications in diseases such as brain cancer, playing a role in both the development and treatment of these diseases.
Allows for Cancer Growth
A major implication for angiogenesis in brain cancer is the facilitation of cancer growth. During tumor development, cancer cells rely on a rich blood supply to provide oxygen, sugar and energy to feed cancer growth. As a result, cancerous cell gain the ability to promote angiogenesis and begin to re-route blood to the tumor. Cancer Medicine, an ebook published by the National Institutes of Health, explains that endothelial cells -- the cells that allow for angiogenesis -- play a role in determining the size of the tumor. As a result, in the absence of angiogenesis the size of a tumor becomes severely restricted, and angiogenesis can act as a limiting factor in brain cancer growth.
Contributes to Malignancy
Another implication of angiogenesis is its ability to help doctors assess a tumor's malignancy. Tumor cells acquire several mutations during cancer development, including mutations that allow for angiogenesis. A study published in Nature Reviews indicates that the vessels formed by tumor cells appear abnormal and lead to an abnormal environment within the tumor. The study explains that this abnormal environment helps drive brain cancer spreading, encouraging brain cancer cells to migrate away from the initial tumor into other parts of the brain. As a result, doctors may be able to study angiogenesis and abnormal blood vessels in the tumor and assess the aggressiveness of the tumor. A tumor with very abnormal blood vessels may prove very aggressive, whereas a tumor with vessels that appear normal may prove less aggressive. By assessing the aggressiveness of a brain tumor, doctors can choose an appropriate treat strategy to fight the cancer.
Target for Cancer Therapy
Angiogenesis also has implications in the treatment of brain cancer, as the genes and proteins that promote angiogenesis can serve as targets for cancer therapy. Since angiogenesis is required for brain cancer growth, inhibiting angiogenesis limits tumor size and can aid in promoting cancer cell death. One commonly used cancer drug, Avastin, works by inhibiting the protein VEGF, which plays a key role in angiogenesis in cancer. Science Daily says that treatment with Avastin was able to slow brain tumor progression in patients with recurrent brain cancer. Avastin may therefore provide an effective treatment to treat brain cancer, especially if used in combination with cancer-killing drugs. Further research into angiogenesis and brain cancer will likely lead to the development of additional angiogenesis inhibitors for brain cancer, improving patient survival.
