JHU ICMIC Program, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, USA.
Cancer Biomark. 2010;7(4):173-88. doi: 10.3233/CBM-2010-0188.
The ability of cancer cells to invade, metastasize, and form distant colonies, is one of the key characteristics that confers lethality to cancer. Metastatic cancer cells typically become refractory to treatment. The metastatic cascade is a multi-step process that is governed by events within the cancer cell, the tumor microenvironment, and the distant environments that are invaded and colonized by the cancer cells. Noninvasive imaging techniques are facilitating a close examination of the stepwise journey of the cancer cell from the primary tumor to the distant metastatic site. Here we have discussed the metastatic process, and how molecular and functional imaging of cancer are providing new insights into the metastatic cascade that can be exploited for treatment of metastatic disease.
癌细胞的侵袭、转移和形成远处转移灶的能力，是赋予癌症致命性的关键特征之一。转移性癌细胞通常对治疗产生抗药性。转移级联是一个多步骤的过程，受癌细胞内的事件、肿瘤微环境以及癌细胞入侵和定植的远处环境控制。非侵入性成像技术正在促进对癌细胞从原发性肿瘤到远处转移部位的逐步旅程的密切检查。在这里，我们讨论了转移过程，以及癌症的分子和功能成像如何为转移级联提供新的见解，这些见解可用于治疗转移性疾病。
