Angiogenesis is a process that is essential for normal life.
Before we are born, our heart and blood vessels develop from primitive blood-like cells, but the rest of our body requires new blood vessels to grow. Hands, legs, arms, the brain and all of our organs are dependent upon angiogenesis to develop. Also, as we grow from infants to adults, our body's growth is matched ounce by ounce with an increase in the blood vessels that support them. Once we reach adult size the blood vessels in our body become dormant, but can be re-awakened if needed to heal a wound, and in special circumstances, like the female menstrual cycle in which the lining of the womb is recycled every month. Scientists have shown that a tumor cannot grow beyond a very small size if it is not able to induce angiogenesis.