Mouse Study Can Illuminate How Tumors Manipulate The Human Vascular System: — Tumors use the body’s blood system for their own purposes: They stimulate the growth of blood vessels that supply the tumor. Medical treatment blocks this process in order to restrain tumors. Scientists have now developed a method for producing a complex human vascular system in mice.”
Researchers of the German Cancer Research Center are studying in mice how tumors manipulate the human vascular system. The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is an Achilles’ heel of tumor growth, because tumors depend on the supply of oxygen and nutrients for survival. Therefore, for some years now substances called angiogenesis inhibitors have been used in cancer treatment to suppress this process. In order to advance this new research field, a team of researchers headed by Professor Hellmut Augustin has developed a method to create a complex human vascular system in mice, which stays functional even after several months.
