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In 1994 the Angiogenesis Foundation was created by a group of men --- Harvard trained physicians, scientists and humanitarians --- who do angiogenesis research in order to conquer and prevent diseases that have been considered "unbeatable". Angiogenesis is a process upon which a tumor attracts blood vessels to nourish itself. This process allows the tumor to sustain its existence.

This success is due to new medicines that control blood vessel growth. The pioneer of angiogenesis research who also developed one of the world's first pacemakers, Dr. Judah Folkman, began this new approach to medical research with ground breaking treatments of many diseases: ophthalmology; cancer; cardiology; wound healing; and dermatology. Anti-angiogenesis therapy is a branch which helps a tumor is prevented from growing its own blood supply, allowing it to wither and die.

2010 TED Conference

Recently the president and medical director of the Angiogenesis Foundation, William Li, attended the TED Conference and spoke on the connection between aggressive cancers and blood vessel growth.  Where typically 11 FDA-approved drugs are used to inhibit the blood vessels, Li spoke on the foods and beverages which could do the same thing --- and prevent cancer growth.

"Men who consume two to three servings of cooked tomatoes per week have a 40 to 50 percent reduction in risk for prostate cancer," said William Li.

The Angiogenesis Foundation has found that other things that are good for preventing the blood vessel growth to the tumor. This consists of red grapes, Cabernet wine, green tea, oranges, red grapes, strawberries, soybeans, and dark chocolate.  Typically, angiogenesis is a natural process used for healing and reproduction in the body. Once its balance is disturbed, the numbers are too little or too much for abnormal blood vessel growth, a newly recognized "common denominator" for many diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, strokes, skin diseases, age-related blindness, and diabetic ulcers.

Angiogenesis-based medicine

To restore a body's "natural control of angiogenesis" refers to angiogenesis-based medicine. Considered a new and comprehensive approach to fighting the majority of diseases, it can either stimulate the angiogenesis growth or inhibit it enough to prevent limb amputations, reversing vision loss, improving general health, and also prolonging lives of cancer patients. How it works is that antiangiogenic therapies starve the tumors of its blood supply, with more than 70 diseases identified.

Clinical Trials of Angiogenesis Research

With approximately 50 angiogenesis inhibitors in global clinical trials, over 1,000 laboratories exist in universities and industries in the process of angiogenesis research. One of  latest studies is the early detection when a "previously dormant, harmless tumor" switches on the angiogenesis process and becomes threatening. The patient is then immediately treated with nontoxic angiogenesis inhibitors. So far, several biomarkers that have been discovered in the Vascular Biology Program are active in the clinical developments. The final goal is to prevent the cancer from starting at all. 

SOURCES

The Angiogenesis Foundation

Ten Big Ideas from TED

Angiogenesis: Blood Vessel Growth and the Treatment of Disease