Expression of cell adhesion molecules in lung cancer cell lines

Cell adhesion mechanisms are among the basic aspects in organism development. Adhesion molecules are involved in the building of complex structures and of association of the tissue. They also mediate as substratum adhesion molecules and are involved in the building of the scaffold. The process of tumor growth and metastasis is a complex cascade of events (FIDLER 1989). For many of these steps the tumor cells must be able to change their degree of adherence. Tumor progression and metastatic dissemination are tightly linked with the ability of the tumor cells to interact with other cells and with the extracellular matrix. The first step of metastasis is the active migration of tumor cells into the surrounding tissue.