Judah Folkman

Judah Folkman proposed that tumor growth and metastasis depend on angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, and that blocking angiogenesis could starve tumors and prevent metastatic spread, a hypothesis that was initially met with skepticism but ultimately transformed cancer therapy through the development of bevacizumab and other anti-angiogenic agents. His concept of the angiogenic switch explained how dormant tumors acquire the ability to recruit blood vessels and progress to lethal disease. He identified endostatin and angiostatin as endogenous angiogenesis inhibitors. His vision of anti-angiogenic cancer therapy led to FDA approval of multiple drugs and established angiogenesis as a hallmark of cancer.