Searching the Link for Better Therapeutic Combination: The Case of Tumor Cells Migration Pattern and Modality of...

Cancer is a disease characterized by its high morbidity and mortality, mainly due to its metastatic ability. Metastasis is a multi-step process beginning with detachment of tumor cells from the primary tumor and leading ultimately to the establishment of a new tumoral site. This cascade includes intravascular migration of tumor cells either individually or collectively and the expansion of cancer cells at metastatic sites that is dependent on certain conditions such as an immunosuppressive environment. In this paper, blockers of tumor cell migration and suppressors of immunotolerance at metastatic sites are reviewed as an illustration of early and later phases intervention, respectively. A combination of these two therapeutics will be advocated based on the proposition of correlation between the pattern of tumor cell migration and the mechanism of immunotolerance induction. By extension, the ''delayed complementarity'' will be introduced as an approach to formulate new anticancer drug combinations.