A requirement for copper in angiogenesis.

Although two decades have passed since copper was shown to stimulate blood vessel formation in the avascular cornea of rabbits, only recently have clinical trials established that Cu privation by diet or by Cu chelators diminishes a tumor's ability to mount an angiogenic response. These data have shed new light on the functional role of Cu in microvessel development and, of equal importance, stimulated new nutritional models of cancer therapeutic intervention.