Molecular Therapeutics Program, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2012 Dec;31(3-4):455-67. doi: 10.1007/s10555-012-9379-3.
The molecular mechanisms underlying cancer progression and metastasis are still poorly understood. In recent years, the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a traditional phenomenon revealed in embryonic development, has been gradually accepted as a potential mechanism underlying cancer progression and metastasis. Many cell signaling pathways involved in development have been shown to contribute to EMT. An increasing number of genetic and epigenetic elements have been discovered, and their cross-talk relationship in EMT remains to be explored. In addition, accumulating experimental evidence suggests that EMT plays a critical role in different aspects of cancer progression, such as metastasis, stem cell traits, and chemoresistance. However, there are some disagreements and debate about these studies, which raise critical questions worthy of further investigation. Solving these questions will lead to a more complete understanding of cancer metastasis. Due to the close relationship of EMT to cancer metastasis and chemoresistance, targeting EMT or reversing EMT is likely to lead to novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of human cancers.
癌症进展和转移的分子机制仍了解甚少。近年来，上皮-间充质转化（EMT），这一在胚胎发育中揭示的传统现象，逐渐被认为是癌症进展和转移的潜在机制。许多参与发育的细胞信号通路已被证明有助于 EMT。越来越多的遗传和表观遗传因素已经被发现，它们在 EMT 中的相互作用关系仍有待探索。此外，越来越多的实验证据表明，EMT 在癌症进展的不同方面发挥着关键作用，如转移、干细胞特性和化疗耐药性。然而，这些研究存在一些分歧和争议，提出了一些值得进一步研究的关键问题。解决这些问题将有助于更全面地了解癌症转移。由于 EMT 与癌症转移和化疗耐药性密切相关，针对 EMT 或逆转 EMT 可能为治疗人类癌症提供新的治疗方法。
