How a Tumor Grows: The Harvard Story

STEP ONE

This is the normal state of cell tissue inside the human body. Regular cells are fed by surrounding capillaries.

STEP TWO

One of these normal cells may turn tumorous and begin to divide very rapidly, expanding to the size of a pin prick. The normal cells that surround the tumor get pushed outward by the proliferating cancer cells. There are two likely outcomes from this condition: Figure 3A or Figure 3B.

STEP THREE

3A: The tumor becomes blood starved & stops growing, or 3B: it increases in size by recruiting more capillaries to feed it, a state known as angiogenesis.