  A theoretical model based on the molecular interactions between a growing
tumor and a dynamically evolving blood vessel network describes the
transformation of the regular vasculature in normal tissues into a highly
inhomogeneous tumor specific capillary network. The emerging morphology,
characterized by the compartmentalization of the tumor into several regions
differing in vessel density, diameter and necrosis, is in accordance with
experimental data for human melanoma. Vessel collapse due to a combination of
severely reduced blood flow and solid stress exerted by the tumor, leads to a
correlated percolation process that is driven towards criticality by the
mechanism of hydrodynamic vessel stabilization.
