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Metastasis

Metastasis

Metastasis is the spread of cancer cells from the original site to distant locations in the body. Cancer cells can spread via blood vessels (hematogenous) as well as lymph vessels in the body.
Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition
The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition or EMT is a developmental process commonly observed in wound healing, embryogenesis, and cancer metastasis. EMT is induced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) or receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) ligands, which further...

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A Robust Discovery Platform for the Identification of Novel Mediators of Melanoma Metastasis

A Robust Discovery Platform for the Identification of Novel Mediators of Melanoma Metastasis

Published on: March 8, 2022

The metastatic process: methodological advances and pharmacological challenges.

Antonio Mazzocca¹, Vinicio Carloni

¹Department of Pathology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232-2561, USA. antonio.mazzocca@vanderbilt.edu

Current Medicinal Chemistry

|May 16, 2009

Summary

Understanding cancer metastasis is key to developing new treatments. Targeting multiple steps of cancer spread, like invasion and angiogenesis, offers promising therapeutic strategies.

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Area of Science:

Oncology
Molecular Biology
Pharmacology

Background:

Cancer metastasis remains a significant obstacle in effective disease treatment.
Understanding the molecular mechanisms of metastasis is crucial for developing novel therapeutic strategies.
Metastasis is a complex, multi-step process involving invasion, transport, and outgrowth of cancer cells in secondary organs.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the molecular mechanisms of cancer metastasis.
To discuss current and emerging pharmacological strategies targeting metastasis.
To explore future therapeutic opportunities by combining agents targeting different metastatic steps.

Main Methods:

Review of current literature on cancer metastasis and therapeutic strategies.
Analysis of molecular events in each step of the metastatic cascade.
Discussion of pharmacological approaches including invasion inhibition, anti-angiogenesis, and tumor stroma targeting.

Main Results:

Recent methodological advances provide deeper insights into metastasis biology.
Various pharmacological approaches targeting invasion, angiogenesis, and tumor stroma are under development.
Targeting specific steps of metastasis holds therapeutic potential.

Conclusions:

Effective therapeutic strategies require a comprehensive understanding of metastasis.
Combining drugs that target different phases of the metastatic process is a key future challenge.
Future research should focus on developing multi-targeted therapies to combat cancer spread.