This study suggests that tumors create their own blood supply to grow and spread. Researchers identified the processes within the cells that line the blood vessels that tumors use to build their own blood supply. This process is normally used by the body to repair tissue, heal injuries and grow new blood vessels, but tumors take them over to create vessels that will feed their own growth.
PhD student James V. McCann was able, using some cutting-edge methodologies, to stratify various endothelial cells based on what he called their “functional diversity.” This was based partly on the amount of a particular type of microRNA, and the gene it targets, inside the cells. MicroRNAs are tiny molecules responsible for controlling the expression of genes, a process that goes haywire in cancer.