Angiogenesis
Tumor Cells Creating Their Own Blood Supply
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| Top left: Implanted cancer cells glow with green fluorescence
protein. |
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Top right: Three of the original cancer cells have survived to begin
replicating.
Signals between the existing blood vessel and the growing
cancer cells cause
the cells to grow toward the vessel. |
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| Bottom left: The cancer cells have reached the existing blood
vessel. |
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Bottom right: When they number only 100-300, the cancer cells have
created
new, fully-functioning blood vessels. |
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| Graphic illustration by Stanley Coffman, Duke University Medical
Center |
