The microenvironmental physiology of tumors is uniquely different from that of normal
tissues. It is characterized, inter alia, by O2 depletion (hypoxia, anoxia), glucose and energy
deprivation, high lactate levels, and extracellular acidosis, parameters that are
anisotropically distributed within the tumor mass. This hostile microenvironment is largely
dictated by the abnormal tumor vasculature and heterogeneous microcirculation. Hypoxia
and other hostile microenvironmental parameters are known to directly or indirectly confer …