title: Aldehyde dehydrogenase as a marker and functional mediator of metastasis in solid tumors.
abstract: There is accumulating evidence indicating that aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity selects for cancer cells with increased aggressiveness, capacity for sustained proliferation, and plasticity in primary tumors. However, emerging data also suggests an important mechanistic role for the ALDH family of isoenzymes in the metastatic activity of tumor cells. Recent studies indicate that ALDH correlates with either increased or decreased metastatic capacity in a cellular context-dependent manner. Importantly, it appears that different ALDH isoforms support increased metastatic capacity in different tumor types. This review assesses the potential of ALDH as biological marker and mechanistic mediator of metastasis in solid tumors. In many malignancies, most notably in breast cancer, ALDH activity and expression appears to be a promising marker and potential therapeutic target for treating metastasis in the clinical setting.
authors.affiliation: London Regional Cancer Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada.|Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Torres
authors.affiliation: London Regional Cancer Program, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada. alison.allan@lhsc.on.ca.|Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada. alison.allan@lhsc.on.ca.|Department of Oncology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada. alison.allan@lhsc.on.ca.|Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada. alison.allan@lhsc.on.ca.|London Regional Cancer Program, Room A4-132, 790 Commissioners Road East, London, ON, N6A 4L6, Canada. alison.allan@lhsc.on.ca.
authors.forename: Alison L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Allan
mesh_terms: D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000473:pathology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase
keywords: Aldehyde dehydrogenase; Biomarker; Cancer stem cell; Metastasis; Solid tumors