scholarly journals Remodeling the ECM: Implications for Metastasis and Tumor Dormancy

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 4916
Author(s):  
Julie S. Di Martino ◽  
Tasmiah Akhter ◽  
Jose Javier Bravo-Cordero
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Disseminated Tumor Cells ◽  
Tumor Dormancy ◽  
Primary Tumors ◽  
Ecm Remodeling ◽  
The Individual

While most primary tumors can be effectively treated, therapeutics fail to efficiently eliminate metastases. Metastases arise from cancer cells that leave the primary tumor and seed distant sites. Recent studies have shown that cancer cells disseminate early during tumor progression and can remain dormant for years before they resume growth. In these metastatic organs, cancer cells reside in microenvironments where they interact with other cells, but also with the extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM was long considered to be an inert, non-cellular component of tissues, providing their architecture. However, in recent years, a growing body of evidence has shown that the ECM is a key driver of cancer progression, and it can exert effects on tumor cells, regulating their metastatic fate. ECM remodeling and degradation is required for the early steps of the metastatic cascade: invasion, tumor intravasation, and extravasation. Similarly, ECM molecules have been shown to be important for metastatic outgrowth. However, the role of ECM molecules on tumor dormancy and their contribution to the dormancy-supportive niches is not well understood. In this perspective article, we will summarize the current knowledge of ECM and its role in tumor metastasis and dormancy. We will discuss how a better understanding of the individual components of the ECM niche and their roles mediating the dormant state of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) will advance the development of new therapies to target dormant cells and prevent metastasis outgrowth.

scholarly journals Minimal Residual Disease, Metastasis and Immunity

Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 130
Author(s):  
Jordi Badia-Ramentol ◽  
Jenniffer Linares ◽  
Andrea Gómez-Llonin ◽  
Alexandre Calon
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Minimal Residual Disease ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Residual Disease ◽  
Disseminated Tumor Cells ◽  
Curative Therapy ◽  
Cancer Dormancy ◽  
Distant Tissue ◽  
Minimal Residual

Progression from localized to metastatic disease requires cancer cells spreading to distant organs through the bloodstream. Only a small proportion of these circulating tumor cells (CTCs) survives dissemination due to anoikis, shear forces and elimination by the immune system. However, all metastases originate from CTCs capable of surviving and extravasating into distant tissue to re-initiate a tumor. Metastasis initiation is not always immediate as disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) may enter a non-dividing state of cell dormancy. Cancer dormancy is a reversible condition that can be maintained for many years without being clinically detectable. Subsequently, late disease relapses are thought to be due to cancer cells ultimately escaping from dormant state. Cancer dormancy is usually associated with minimal residual disease (MRD), where DTCs persist after intended curative therapy. Thus, MRD is commonly regarded as an indicator of poor prognosis in all cancers. In this review, we examine the current understanding of MRD and immunity during cancer progression to metastasis and discuss clinical perspectives for oncology.

Abstract A34: Role of neural mediators in the regulation of tumor dormancy and disseminated tumor cells biology

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Mancino ◽  
Raul Alonso ◽  
Patricia Fernandez-Nogueira ◽  
Gemma Fuster ◽  
Julio Aguirre-Ghiso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Disseminated Tumor Cells ◽  
Tumor Dormancy

scholarly journals Tumor Dormancy and Interplay with Hypoxic Tumor Microenvironment

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (17) ◽  
pp. 4305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Butturini ◽  
Alessandra Carcereri de Prati ◽  
Diana Boriero ◽  
Sofia Mariotto
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Microenvironment ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Tumor Dormancy ◽  
Hypoxic Conditions ◽  
Cycle Arrest ◽  
Regulatory Machinery ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Hypoxic Tumor

The tumor microenvironment is a key factor in disease progression, local resistance, immune-escaping, and metastasis. The rapid proliferation of tumor cells and the aberrant structure of the blood vessels within tumors result in a marked heterogeneity in the perfusion of the tumor tissue with regions of hypoxia. Although most of the tumor cells die in these hypoxic conditions, a part of them can adapt and survive for many days or months in a dormant state. Dormant tumor cells are characterized by cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase as well as a low metabolism, and are refractive to common chemotherapy, giving rise to metastasis. Despite these features, the cells retain their ability to proliferate when conditions improve. An understanding of the regulatory machinery of tumor dormancy is essential for identifying early cancer biomarkers and could provide a rationale for the development of novel agents to target dormant tumor cell populations. In this review, we examine the current knowledge of the mechanisms allowing tumor dormancy and discuss the crucial role of the hypoxic microenvironment in this process.

scholarly journals Senescent tumor cells: an overlooked adversary in the battle against cancer

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soon Sang Park ◽  
Yong Won Choi ◽  
Jang-Hee Kim ◽  
Hong Seok Kim ◽  
Tae Jun Park
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Physiological Role ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Cancer Tissue ◽  
Causative Factors ◽  
Metastatic Sites ◽  
Positive Functions

AbstractSenescent cells in cancer tissue, including senescent fibroblasts and macrophages, have been reported to increase the malignant potency of cancer cells by secreting senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Otherwise, Senescence of tumor cells has been believed to inhibit tumor growth by halting the massive proliferation and increasing the chances of immune clearance. In particular, senescent tumor cells (STCs) have been thought that they rarely exist in carcinomas because oncogene-induced senescence needs to be overcome for protumorigenic cells to become malignant. However, recent studies have revealed that a considerable number of STCs are present in cancer tissue, even in metastatic sites. In fact, STCs are widely involved in cancer progression by leading to collective invasion and building a cytokine barrier to protect nonsenescent tumor cells from immune attack. Furthermore, therapy-induced STCs can induce tumor progression and recurrence by increasing stemness. However, obscure causative factors and their heterogeneity in various cancers make it difficult to establish the physiological role of STCs. Here, we summarize and review the current knowledge of the pathophysiology and role of STCs. We also outline the current status of therapeutic strategies for directly removing STCs or modulating the SASPs to maximize the positive functions of STCs while suppressing the negative functions.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Tumor Dormancy

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linxian Zhao ◽  
Kai Zhang ◽  
Hongyu He ◽  
Yongping Yang ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Mesenchymal Stem Cells ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Biology ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Disseminated Tumor Cells ◽  
Tumor Dormancy ◽  
Therapeutic Window ◽  
The Relationship

Tumor dormancy, a state of tumor, is clinically undetectable and the outgrowth of dormant tumor cells into overt metastases is responsible for cancer-associated deaths. However, the dormancy-related molecular mechanism has not been clearly described. Some researchers have proposed that cancer stem cells (CSCs) and disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) can be seen as progenitor cells of tumor dormancy, both of which can remain dormant in a non-permissive soil/niche. Nowadays, research interest in the cancer biology field is skyrocketing as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are capable of regulating tumor dormancy, which will provide a unique therapeutic window to cure cancer. Although the influence of MSCs on tumor dormancy has been investigated in previous studies, there is no thorough review on the relationship between MSCs and tumor dormancy. In this paper, the root of tumor dormancy is analyzed and dormancy-related molecular mechanisms are summarized. With an emphasis on the role of the MSCs during tumor dormancy, new therapeutic strategies to prevent metastatic disease are proposed, whose clinical application potentials are discussed, and some challenges and prospects of the studies of tumor dormancy are also described.

scholarly journals Metastatic Colonization: Escaping Immune Surveillance

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Schaller ◽  
Judith Agudo
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Immune Escape ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Immune Surveillance ◽  
New Host ◽  
Primary Tumors ◽  
Metastatic Colonization ◽  
Tumor Dissemination

Cancer immunotherapy has shifted the paradigm in cancer therapy by revitalizing immune responses against tumor cells. Specifically, in primary tumors cancer cells evolve in an immunosuppressive microenvironment, which protects them from immune attack. However, during tumor progression, some cancer cells leave the protective tumor mass, disseminating and seeding secondary organs. These initial disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) should potentially be susceptible to recognition by the immune system in the new host tissues. Although Natural Killer or T cells eliminate some of these DTCs, a fraction escape anti-tumor immunity and survive, thus giving rise to metastatic colonization. How DTCs interact with immune cells and the underpinnings that regulate imperfect immune responses during tumor dissemination remain poorly understood. Uncovering such mechanisms of immune evasion may contribute to the development of immunotherapy specifically targeting DTCs. Here we review current knowledge about systemic and site-specific immune-cancer crosstalk in the early steps of metastasis formation. Moreover, we highlight how conventional cancer therapies can shape the pre-metastatic niche enabling immune escape of newly arrived DTCs.

Role of exosomes in diagnosis and therapy of prostate cancer

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-405
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Fontana ◽  
Olga A. Babenko
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Biological Fluids ◽  
Diagnosis And Treatment ◽  
Diagnosis And Therapy ◽  
The Future ◽  
Important Direction ◽  
Potential Biomarkers

Aim of this letter is to attract the attention of journal readers to the study of exosomes as an important direction in the development of Oncology, in particular, in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. Exosomes are produced by tumor cells and regulate proliferation, metastasis, and the development of chemoresistance. Their extraction from biological fluids allows further use of these vesicles as potential biomarkers of prostate cancer. In the future, exosomes can be successfully used in the delivery of drugs and other anti-tumor substances to cancer cells.

scholarly journals Iron-Bound Lipocalin-2 from Tumor-Associated Macrophages Drives Breast Cancer Progression Independent of Ferroportin

Metabolites ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Christina Mertens ◽  
Matthias Schnetz ◽  
Claudia Rehwald ◽  
Stephan Grein ◽  
Eiman Elwakeel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Tumor Progression ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Lung Metastases ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽  
Lipocalin 2 ◽  
Tumor Associated Macrophages

Macrophages supply iron to the breast tumor microenvironment by enforced secretion of lipocalin-2 (Lcn-2)-bound iron as well as the increased expression of the iron exporter ferroportin (FPN). We aimed at identifying the contribution of each pathway in supplying iron for the growing tumor, thereby fostering tumor progression. Analyzing the expression profiles of Lcn-2 and FPN using the spontaneous polyoma-middle-T oncogene (PyMT) breast cancer model as well as mining publicly available TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) and GEO Series(GSE) datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO), we found no association between tumor parameters and Lcn-2 or FPN. However, stromal/macrophage-expression of Lcn-2 correlated with tumor onset, lung metastases, and recurrence, whereas FPN did not. While the total iron amount in wildtype and Lcn-2−/− PyMT tumors showed no difference, we observed that tumor-associated macrophages from Lcn-2−/− compared to wildtype tumors stored more iron. In contrast, Lcn-2−/− tumor cells accumulated less iron than their wildtype counterparts, translating into a low migratory and proliferative capacity of Lcn-2−/− tumor cells in a 3D tumor spheroid model in vitro. Our data suggest a pivotal role of Lcn-2 in tumor iron-management, affecting tumor growth. This study underscores the role of iron for tumor progression and the need for a better understanding of iron-targeted therapy approaches.

scholarly journals Mitochondria-Targeted Antioxidants MitoQ and MitoTEMPO Do Not Influence BRAF-Driven Malignant Melanoma and KRAS-Driven Lung Cancer Progression in Mice

Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Kristell Le Gal ◽  
Clotilde Wiel ◽  
Mohamed X. Ibrahim ◽  
Marcus Henricsson ◽  
Volkan I. Sayin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Malignant Melanoma ◽  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Human Melanoma ◽  
Oxygen Species ◽  
Lung Cancer Cell ◽  
Primary Tumors ◽  
Anti Cancer

Cancer cells produce high levels of mitochondria-associated reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can damage macromolecules, but also promote cell signaling and proliferation. Therefore, mitochondria-targeted antioxidants have been suggested to be useful in anti-cancer therapy, but no studies have convincingly addressed this question. Here, we administered the mitochondria-targeted antioxidants MitoQ and MitoTEMPO to mice with BRAF-induced malignant melanoma and KRAS-induced lung cancer, and found that these compounds had no impact on the number of primary tumors and metastases; and did not influence mitochondrial and nuclear DNA damage levels. Moreover, MitoQ and MitoTEMPO did not influence proliferation of human melanoma and lung cancer cell lines. MitoQ and its control substance dTPP, but not MitoTEMPO, increased glycolytic rates and reduced respiration in melanoma cells; whereas only dTPP produced this effect in lung cancer cells. Our results do not support the use of mitochondria-targeted antioxidants for anti-cancer monotherapy, at least not in malignant melanoma and lung cancer.

scholarly journals Emerging roles of cancer-testis antigenes, semenogelin 1 and 2, in neoplastic cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleg Shuvalov ◽  
Alyona Kizenko ◽  
Alexey Petukhov ◽  
Olga Fedorova ◽  
Alexandra Daks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Tumor Cells ◽  
Reproductive System ◽  
Seminal Fluid ◽  
Cancer Development ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Malignant Cells ◽  
Cancer Testis

AbstractCancer-testicular Antigens (CTAs) belong to a group of proteins that under normal conditions are strictly expressed in a male’s reproductive tissues. However, upon malignisation, they are frequently re-expressed in neoplastic tissues of various origin. A number of studies have shown that different CTAs affect growth, migration and invasion of tumor cells and favor cancer development and metastasis. Two members of the CTA group, Semenogelin 1 and 2 (SEMG1 and SEMG2, or SEMGs) represent the major component of human seminal fluid. They regulate the motility and capacitation of sperm. They are often re-expressed in different malignancies including breast cancer. However, there is almost no information about the functional properties of SEMGs in cancer cells. In this review, we highlight the role of SEMGs in the reproductive system and also summarize the data on their expression and functions in malignant cells of various origins.

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