The aim if this book is to analyze the scientific biography of Judah Folkman one of the most
important scientist of the last century. More 50 years ago Folkman found a revolutionary new
way to think about cancer. Blood supply Folkman hypothesized was the key to tumor growth.
Without new blood vessels tumors simply did not thrive. In 1971 Folkman published his theory
of angiogenesis in the ¿New England Journal of Medicine¿. Angiogenesis the formation and
recruitment of new blood vessels is necessary for tumor growth. Critics of the theory were
silenced over time as Folkman and his colleagues reported the first purified angiogenic
molecule the first angiogenesis inhibitor and proposed the concept of angiogenic disease. The
mechanism of angiogenesis is now a worldwide field of investigation. Over the years Folkman
and a growing team of researchers have isolated the proteins and unraveled the processes that
regulate angiogenesis. Meanwhile a new generation of angiogenesis research has emerged as well
widening the field into new areas of human disease and deepening it to examine the underlying
biological processes responsible for those diseases.
