Advanced research on vasculogenic mimicry in cancer

• Published in: Journal of cellular and molecular medicine Vol. 19; no. 2; pp. 315 - 326
• Main Authors: Qiao, Lili, Liang, Ning, Zhang, Jiandong, Xie, Jian, Liu, Fengjun, Xu, Deguo, Yu, Xinshuang, Tian, Yuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.02.2015; BlackWell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Angiogenesis; Animals; Cancer; cancer stem cell; Cancer therapies; Cell adhesion & migration; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition - physiology; Extracellular matrix; Genotype & phenotype; high aggressive tumour; Humans; Hypoxia; Medical prognosis; Melanoma; Mesenchyme; Metastases; Metastasis; Microscopy; Mimicry; molecular regulation; Neoplasms - pathology; Neoplastic Stem Cells - pathology; Neovascularization, Pathologic - pathology; Ovarian cancer; Patients; Perfusion; prognosis; Reviews; Roles; Signal Transduction - physiology; Specific capacity; Stem cells; Tumors; tumour‐target therapy; vasculogenic mimicry; high aggressive tumour; molecular regulation; cancer stem cell; vasculogenic mimicry; prognosis; tumour-target therapy
• ISSN: 1582-1838; 1582-4934
• DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.12496

Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is a brand‐new tumour vascular paradigm independent of angiogenesis that describes the specific capacity of aggressive cancer cells to form vessel‐like networks that provide adequate blood supply for tumour growth. A variety of molecule mechanisms and signal pathways participate in VM induction. Additionally, cancer stem cell and epithelial‐mesenchymal transitions are also shown to be implicated in VM formation. As a unique perfusion way, VM is associated with tumour invasion, metastasis and poor cancer patient prognosis. Due to VM's important effects on tumour progression, more VM‐related strategies are being utilized for anticancer treatment. Here, with regard to the above aspects, we make a review of advanced research on VM in cancer.