Organotropism of breast cancer metastasis.
Breast cancer causes mortality by metastasizing to a variety of vital organs, such as bone, lung, brain and liver. Effective therapeutic intervention of this deadly process relies on a better mechanistic understanding of metastasis organotropism. Recent studies have confirmed earlier speculations that metastasis is a non-random process and is dependent on intricate tumor-stroma interactions at the target organ. Both the intrinsic properties of breast cancer cells and the host organ microenvironment are important in determining the efficiency of organ-specific metastasis. Advances in animal modeling, in vivo imaging and functional genomics have accelerated the discovery of important molecular mediators of organ-specific metastasis. A conceptual framework of breast cancer organotropism is emerging and will be instrumental in guiding future efforts in this exciting research field.
Lu
Xin
X
Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Kang
Yibin
Y
D000818:Animals; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D053245:RANK Ligand / Q000378:metabolism
D053245:RANK Ligand