Inhibition of tumor angiogenesis mediated by cartilage.

Capillary proliferation induced by tumor is shown to be inhibited by neonatal scapular cartilage. Using the rabbit cornea as an assay, the cartilage implant decreased the rate of capillary growth, induced by tumor, by an average of 75%. Vascularization was prevented completely in 28% of tumors. The inhibitory effect of small cartilage implants operates over distances of up to 2.0 mm and displays a gradient from the cartilage source. The experiments suggest that the cartilage inhibitor does not antagonize tumor angiogenesis factor, but appears to inhibit capillary proliferation directly. The inhibitory material does not elicit an inflammatory response in either the rabbit cornea or in the chick chorioallantoic membrane. Thus with further purification, it may prove useful as a means of maintining tumor dormancy by "antiangiogenesis."