Metastasis: the seed and soil theory gains identity.
The metastatic spread of tumor cells to distant sites represents the major cause of cancer-related deaths. Cancer metastasis involves a series of complex interactions between tumor cells and microenvironment that influence its biological effectiveness and facilitate tumor cell arrest to distant organs. More than a century since Paget developed the theory of seed and soil, the enigma of tissue specificity observed in metastatic colonization of tumor cells begins to unfold itself. The advent of new technologies has led to the discovery of novel molecules and pathways that confer metastasis-associated properties to the cancer cells, mediating organ specificity and unique genetic signatures have been developed using microarray studies. Future clinical studies and new antimetastatic compounds aiming to improve survival of patients with metastasis will most probably be based on these signatures. This review summarizes the plethora of old and new molecules that are strongly correlated with organ-specific metastases and which provide now an identity to the theory of seed and soil.
Fokas
Emmanouil
E
Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Marburg, Medical Faculty of Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany. fokas@med.uni-marburg.de
Engenhart-Cabillic
Rita
R
Daniilidis
Kiriakos
K
Rose
Frank
F
An
Han-Xiang
HX
D000818:Animals; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009928:Organ Specificity