The evolving portrait of cancer metastasis

The phenomenon of cancer metastasis remains poorly understood. We discuss here various conceptual frameworks that attempt to rationalize the mechanisms by which tumors acquire metastatic ability. Portrayal of cancer as a somatic Darwinian process occurring within a tissue fails to fully explain the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology Vol. 70; p. 291
Main Authors Gupta, P B, Mani, S, Yang, J, Hartwell, K, Weinberg, R A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 2005
Subjects
Animals
Epigenesis, Genetic
Epithelium - pathology
Gene Expression Profiling
Humans
Melanoma - genetics
Melanoma - pathology
Melanoma - secondary
Mesoderm - pathology
Models, Genetic
Neoplasm Invasiveness
Neoplasm Metastasis - genetics
Neoplasm Metastasis - pathology
Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
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Summary:The phenomenon of cancer metastasis remains poorly understood. We discuss here various conceptual frameworks that attempt to rationalize the mechanisms by which tumors acquire metastatic ability. Portrayal of cancer as a somatic Darwinian process occurring within a tissue fails to fully explain the phenomenon of metastatic competence. The biology of pre-neoplastic cells also complicates this picture, since the phenotypes of normal cellular precursors are clearly relevant to metastatic behavior following transformation. Recent experimental results help to shed light on these and other considerations regarding the molecular mechanisms of malignant progression.
ISSN:0091-7451
1943-4456
DOI:10.1101/sqb.2005.70.033