ABSTRACT
Molecular imaging of angiogenesis has been a rapidly growing field, has become a part of routine clinical care of oncology patients, and steadily builds its importance for the cardiovascular community. Recent developments in imaging technology and advances in genomic approaches to understand molecular events associated with pathophysiology of disease have resulted in widespread inclusion of molecular imaging in clinical trials, testing individually tailored pharmacological and cell-based therapeutic approaches to modulate angiogenic responses in cancer and cardiovascular research. Blood vessels were initially developed during the evolutionary process in animal species in which oxygen could not be carried to all cells via diffusion as in primitive organisms such as worms and fruit flies. The imbalance between oxygen delivery and demand or an insufficient nutrient supply in a given tissue or tumor has been found to be powerful stimulators of angiogenesis.
