Can we eat to starve cancer?

Angiogenesis is the process our bodies use to grow blood vessels. Blood vessels are mostly developed in the womb. As adults, they don't normally grow. After an injury, for example, blood vessels grow under the scab to heal wounds.

The body regulates the amount of blood vessels by releasing proteins that stimulate or inhibit growth. With a number of diseases, this process becomes out of balance.

Cancer cells are present in the body all the time as microscopic groups of cells that don't grow larger than half a cubic millimeter in size because they don't have a blood supply. If they begin to mutate, they can develop the ability to produce the proteins that stimulate blood vessel growth and grow out of control.

Antiangiogenesis (restricting the growth of blood vessels) is being studied as a treatment with promising results. Some foods have these properties and could help prevent cancerous tumor development.