Angiogenesis links chronic inflammation with cancer

Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from existing vessels, is tightly linked to chronic inflammation and cancer. Angiogenesis is one of the molecular events bridging the gap between inflammation and cancer. One of the events linking inflammation and cancer is an increase in cellular adhesion molecules that are expressed on the luminal surface of endothelium upon inflammation. Cellular adhesion molecules are involved in leukocyte recruitment and subsequently lead to extravasation of leukocytes to the injury site. These adhesion molecules are known to be shared by some cancer cells and have the ability to contribute to metastasis. Thus, an elevation of these molecules in chronic inflammation may be a risk factor for metastasis. In this chapter, we discuss the method used to determine the adhesion molecules expressed on endothelium, and leukocyte adhesion to endothelium.