# Angiogenesis and vascular normalisation models

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/angiogenesis-models/  
OnCo record `angiogenesis-models` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Models of how tumours recruit blood vessels, and of Rakesh Jain's idea that anti-angiogenic drugs at the right dose normalise rather than destroy those vessels, improving drug and oxygen delivery for a window of days.

## Summary

Anderson and Chaplain's 1998 continuum and discrete models simulated capillary sprouting toward a tumour under growth factors, and Jain's group modelled how abnormal vessels raise interstitial pressure and starve tumours of drug. Jain's vascular normalisation hypothesis, that judicious anti-VEGF therapy prunes immature vessels and transiently restores flow, is supported by imaging in glioblastoma and rectal cancer and explains why bevacizumab helps chemotherapy despite cutting blood supply. These models motivate scheduling anti-angiogenic drugs before chemotherapy or radiotherapy and measuring perfusion during treatment.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: emerging
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Tags: mathematical-model
- Principle: Vessel growth follows chemotactic and haptotactic gradients of angiogenic factors; anti-angiogenic therapy at moderate dose reduces vessel density and leakiness, lowering interstitial pressure and improving perfusion transiently.
- Since: 1998
- Strengths: Explains combination benefit of anti-VEGF drugs; Supported by perfusion imaging; Guides scheduling
- Limitations: Normalisation window is short and variable; Hard to measure in routine care; Models simplify vessel biology

## Sources

- Jain 2005, Science: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1104819

## Connected records

- fronts: [AI & Computation](https://onco.cc/fronts/ai-computation/), [Drug Discovery Platforms](https://onco.cc/fronts/drug-discovery/)
- technologies: [Anti-angiogenic therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/antiangiogenic/), [MRI](https://onco.cc/technologies/mri/)
- drugs: [Bevacizumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/bevacizumab/)

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