VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor)

VEGF is a signalling protein that promotes the growth of new blood vessels — angiogenesis. It's released by cells in low-oxygen environments (like an injury site or a growing tumour) and binds receptors on the inner lining of blood vessels, triggering new capillary formation. In the research peptide context, VEGF appears primarily in discussions of BPC-157. Animal studies show BPC-157 upregulates VEGF expression at injury sites, which is proposed as the mechanism behind its accelerated healing effects: more vascularity at the repair zone means more oxygen and nutrient supply to recovering tissue. The complication is that VEGF drives tumour angiogenesis through the same pathway. Anti-VEGF drugs (bevacizumab, for example) are used in cancer treatment specifically because cutting off the tumour's blood supply can slow its growth. A compound that increases VEGF at injury sites could theoretically also increase it in tumour microenvironments. This doesn't mean BPC-157 causes cancer — the animal evidence doesn't support that claim. It's why the Jozwiak et al. (2024) cancer-risk paper is taken seriously rather than dismissed: the mechanism is biologically plausible even if the evidence for the effect in humans doesn't exist.