The definition of EPCs and other bone marrow cells contributing to neoangiogenesis and tumor growth: is there common ground for understanding the roles of numerous marrow-derived cells in the neoangiogenic process?

Interest in the regulation of blood vessel formation as a mechanism to permit unregulated tumor cell growth was a prescient hypothesis of Dr. Judah Folkman nearly 3 decades ago. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that affect the recruitment, expansion, and turnover of the tumor microvasculature continues to evolve. While the fundamental paradigms for improving blood flow to growing, injured, diseased, or tumor infiltrated tissues are well known, the potential role of bone marrow derived circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) to function as postnatal vasculogenic precursors for tumor microvasculature has become a controversial premise. We will briefly review some recently published high profile papers that appear to derive polar interpretations for the role of EPCs in the angiogenic switch and discuss possible reasons for the disparate views in work conducted in both mouse and man.