Metastatic Suppressors
Recent work has uncovered a group of molecules that act to induce or suppress metastasis without affecting the growth of the primary tumor. Many molecules, termed Metastatic Suppressors, have been identified. These molecules are critical for different stages of metastasis, and may function to inhibit cell death upon loss of cell adhesion, or enhance the ability of cells to migrate through the stroma. Researchers are hopeful that these molecules may prove valuable as anti-cancer/anti-metastasis targets.(1)
It is important to realize that the majority of current anti-cancer drug studies are conducted using primary or cultured tumor cells, and the efficacy of each drug is measured by its ability to reduce the size of primary tumors or kill cells being grown in laboratories. However, because metastatic suppressors do not affect growth of the primary tumor, it is likely like many potentially useful anti-metastatic drugs have been overlooked. New methods of analyzing the ability of drugs to inhibit metastasis, rather than primary tumor growth, are being developed, and should lead to a useful new class of therapeutic compounds.(2)
Anti-angiogenesis Therapy
Because metastasis relies on the growth of new blood vessels in both the primary and secondary tumors, drugs that inhibit angiogenesis may inhibit metastasis. Currently, the combination of anti-angiogenesis drugs with chemotherapy/radiation is the most effect treatment. Unfortunately, many tumors become resistant to the anti-angiogenesis treatment, so this is generally not a longterm solution. (3)
Current research into inhibiting metastasis is focusing on understanding which step of metastasis is the most amenable to therapy. The identification of metastatic suppressor genes has opened up many exciting new potential targets for preventing and inhibiting this deadly event.
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