Georgetown University Medical Center

Vitamin a pushes breast cancer to form blood vessel cells

Published in Women's Health Weekly, July 31st, 2008

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have discovered that vitamin A, when applied to breast cancer cells, turns on genes that can push stem cells embedded in a tumor to morph into endothelial cells. These cells can then build blood vessels to link up to the body's blood supply, promoting further tumor growth.

They say their findings, published in the July 16 online issue of PLoS ONE, is a proof of principle of the new – and controversial – "vasculogenic mimicry" theory, proposing that, as needed, tumors build their own blood pipelines. This is very different from the well-accepted role of tumor angiogenesis, when tumors send signals to blood vessels to...

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Source: Women's Health Weekly (2008-07-31)

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