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Tumor dormancy due to failure of angiogenesis: role of the microenvironment

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Abstract

Tumor progression is dependent on a number of sequential steps, including initial recruitment of blood vessels (i.e., angiogenic switch). Failure of a microscopic tumor to complete one or more of these early steps may lead to delayed clinical manifestation of the cancer. In this review we summarize some of the clinical and experimental evidence suggesting that microscopic human cancers can remain in an asymptomatic, non-detectable, and occult state for the life of a person or animal. We present three clinical cases where tumors present shortly after an accidental trauma in otherwise healthy individuals. We also review current experimental human tumor dormancy models with special emphasis on the angiogenic switch which closely recapitulates clinically observed delay in tumor recurrence.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. T. Lokeland MD for clinical data on the clinical cases, Dr. L. Bostad MD for the histological pictures, and Dr. R. Watnick for critical reading and editing of this manuscript. We also thank Kristin Johnson for help with graphics. This work was supported by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, NIH Program Project (grant #P01CA45548), and an Innovator Award from the Department of Defense, The Norwegian Cancer Society and Helse Vest Norway.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vascular Biology Program, Children’s Hospital Boston, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    George N. Naumov, Judah Folkman & Oddbjorn Straume

  2. Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    George N. Naumov, Judah Folkman & Oddbjorn Straume

  3. Karp Family Research Laboratories 12007C, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    George N. Naumov

  4. The Gade Institute, Section of Pathology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Oddbjorn Straume

  5. Institute of Internal Medicine, Section of Oncology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Oddbjorn Straume

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  1. George N. Naumov
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  2. Judah Folkman
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Correspondence to George N. Naumov.

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Naumov, G.N., Folkman, J. & Straume, O. Tumor dormancy due to failure of angiogenesis: role of the microenvironment. Clin Exp Metastasis 26, 51–60 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10585-008-9176-0

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