Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Overview: Biology Is the Foundation of Therapy
- PART I BASIC RESEARCH
- Introduction to Basic Research
- MODELS AND TOOLS FOR METASTASIS STUDIES
- GENES
- VARIOUS PROPERTIES OF CANCER CELLS
- 11 The Continuum of Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition – Implication of Hybrid States for Migration and Survival in Development and Cancer
- 12 Apoptosis, Anoikis, and Senescence
- 13 Metastatic Inefficiency and Tumor Dormancy
- STROMAL CELLS/EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX
- SYSTEMIC FACTORS
- PART II CLINICAL RESEARCH
- Index
- References
12 - Apoptosis, Anoikis, and Senescence
from VARIOUS PROPERTIES OF CANCER CELLS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Overview: Biology Is the Foundation of Therapy
- PART I BASIC RESEARCH
- Introduction to Basic Research
- MODELS AND TOOLS FOR METASTASIS STUDIES
- GENES
- VARIOUS PROPERTIES OF CANCER CELLS
- 11 The Continuum of Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition – Implication of Hybrid States for Migration and Survival in Development and Cancer
- 12 Apoptosis, Anoikis, and Senescence
- 13 Metastatic Inefficiency and Tumor Dormancy
- STROMAL CELLS/EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX
- SYSTEMIC FACTORS
- PART II CLINICAL RESEARCH
- Index
- References
Summary
APOPTOSIS: A CRITICAL PLAYER IN TUMOR PROGRESSION
In the early 1970s, pioneering work of Fidler and colleagues demonstrated that tumor metastasis is an extremely inefficient process, and fewer than 0.01 percent of tumor cells shed in the circulation system are able to survive for the following metastatic colonization at distant organs [1]. The majority of tumor cells that depart from the primary cancer mass die by encountering the body's natural defense barriers, which include induction of apoptosis and senescence and immunosurveillance. Even the tumor cells that survive and reach the secondary organ often become dormant or senescent, and their growth is significantly limited owing to the condition of the microenvironment at the organ sites.
Apoptosis is the most common form of programmed cell death in vertebrates and has been extensively studied over the past decade; it is commonly considered as an important mechanism that negatively regulates cancer development. Recent evidence strongly supports the notion that the apoptosis mechanism also serves as a safeguard system that prevents the dissemination of malignant cells and metastasis. Inbal and his group, by using lung carcinoma clones, have shown that the inhibition of the expression of DAPK, a positive mediator of apoptosis, favored the metastatic process [2]. On the other hand, Del Bufalo et al. demonstrated that overexpression of the antiapoptotic oncoprotein, Bcl-2, significantly promoted the metastatic potential of human breast cancer cells [3].
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Cancer MetastasisBiologic Basis and Therapeutics, pp. 131 - 147Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011