Chick Embryo Chorioallantoic Membrane in the Study of Angiogenesis and Metastasis: The CAM Assay in

1. Introduction 2. Chorioallantoic membrane and its embryological origin 2.1. Morphology of chorioallantoic membrane blood and lymphatic vessels 2.2. A single blood sinus or a capillary plexus beneath the chorionic epithelium? 2.3. The chorioallantoic membrane vascular growth 3. Use of chorioallantoic membrane in the study of angiogenic molecules 3.1. Role of FGF-2 in chorioallantoic membrane vascularization 4. Use of chorioallantoic membrane in the study of antiangiogenic molecules 5. Use of chorioallantoic membranes in the study of tumor angiogenesis 5.1. Angiogenesis and antiangiogenesis in multiple myeloma 5.2. Angiogenesis and antiangiogenesis in human neuroblastoma 6. Use of chorioallantoic membrane in the study of tumor metastasis 6.1. Spontaneous metastasis models. 6.2. Experimental metastasis studies. 7. Other applications 7.1. In ovo and ex ovo methods 7.2. Use of chorioallantoic membrane in the study of tumor lymphangiogenesis 8. Different morphological techniques that can be used to study vascularization of the CAM and the genes involved. 9. Methods of quantifying the angiogenic response 10. Limitations of the chorioallantoic membrane assay 11. Other classical in vivo assays in comparison (advantages, disadvantages and limitations) with the chorioallantoic membrane 12. Concluding remarks Acknowledgments References