Achen M G, Mann G B, Stacker S A
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Post Office Box 2008 Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria 3050, Australia.
Br J Cancer. 2006 May 22;94(10):1355-60. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6603120.
Recent studies involving animal models of cancer and clinicopathological analyses of human tumours suggest that the growth of lymphatic vessels (lymphangiogenesis) in or nearby tumours is associated with the metastatic spread of cancer. The best validated molecular signalling system for tumour lymphangiogenesis involves the secreted proteins vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) and VEGF-D that induce growth of lymphatic vessels via activation of VEGF receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) localised on the surface of lymphatic endothelial cells. In this review, we discuss the evidence supporting a role for this signalling system in the spread of cancer and potential approaches for blocking this system to prevent tumour metastasis.
近期涉及癌症动物模型及人类肿瘤临床病理分析的研究表明，肿瘤内部或附近淋巴管的生长（淋巴管生成）与癌症的转移扩散相关。对于肿瘤淋巴管生成，最具验证性的分子信号系统涉及分泌蛋白血管内皮生长因子C（VEGF-C）和血管内皮生长因子D（VEGF-D），它们通过激活位于淋巴管内皮细胞表面的血管内皮生长因子受体3（VEGFR-3）来诱导淋巴管生长。在本综述中，我们讨论了支持该信号系统在癌症扩散中发挥作用的证据，以及阻断该系统以预防肿瘤转移的潜在方法。
