[Pathogenetic aspects of metastasis]

The results of studies on the pathogenic mechanisms of metastatic spreading which determine sedimentation of tumour cells, their extravasation and development in the extravascular space and affect the growth of metastatic germs are summarized. It is shown that the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal and sympathoadrenal systems, the system of natural resistance represented by macrophages, the prekallikrein-kinin system and the interferon system modulate the metastatic process and mechanisms of antitumoral resistance. In the course of the tumour growth the activity of these systems undergoes pathologic changes which, on the one hand, are the result of the tumour growth and, on the other hand, affect the mechanisms of metastatic spreading of tumours and the factors of its regulation. The possibility of finding the ways for inhibiting metastatic tumour spreading by means of the studying the pathogenetic mechanisms of the metastasis development is discussed.