Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences "Mario Serio", University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2022 Dec;41(4):935-951. doi: 10.1007/s10555-022-10067-x. Epub 2022 Oct 13.
Tumour vascularisation is vital for cancer sustainment representing not only the main source of nutrients and oxygen supply but also an escape route for single or clustered cancer cells that, once detached from the primary mass, enter the blood circulation and disseminate to distant organs. Among the mechanisms identified to contribute to tumour vascularisation, vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is gaining increasing interest in the scientific community representing an intriguing target for cancer treatment. VM indeed associates with highly aggressive tumour phenotypes and strongly impairs patient outcomes. Differently from vessels of healthy tissues, tumour vasculature is extremely heterogeneous and tortuous, impeding efficient chemotherapy delivery, and at the meantime hyperpermeable and thus extremely accessible to metastasising cancer cells. Moreover, tumour vessel disorganisation creates a self-reinforcing vicious circle fuelling cancer malignancy and progression. Because of the inefficient oxygen delivery and metabolic waste removal from tumour vessels, many cells within the tumour mass indeed experience hypoxia and acidosis, now considered hallmarks of cancer. Being strong inducers of vascularisation, therapy resistance, inflammation and metastasis, hypoxia and acidosis create a permissive microenvironment for cancer progression and dissemination. Along with these considerations, we decided to focus our attention on the relationship between hypoxia/acidosis and VM. Indeed, besides tumour angiogenesis, VM is strongly influenced by both hypoxia and acidosis, which could potentiate each other and fuel this vicious circle. Thus, targeting hypoxia and acidosis may represent a potential target to treat VM to impair tumour perfusion and cancer cell sustainment.
肿瘤血管生成对于癌症的维持至关重要,它不仅是营养物质和氧气供应的主要来源,也是单个或簇状癌细胞的逃逸途径,这些癌细胞一旦从原发性肿瘤中分离出来,就会进入血液循环并扩散到远处的器官。在促进肿瘤血管生成的机制中,血管生成拟态(VM)越来越受到科学界的关注,它是癌症治疗的一个有趣的靶点。事实上,VM 与高度侵袭性的肿瘤表型相关,并严重影响患者的预后。与健康组织的血管不同,肿瘤血管极其不均匀且扭曲,这阻碍了有效的化疗药物输送,同时也使肿瘤血管过度渗透,从而使转移的癌细胞极易进入。此外,肿瘤血管的紊乱会形成一个自我强化的恶性循环,加剧癌症的恶性程度和进展。由于肿瘤血管供氧效率低下,代谢废物清除能力差,肿瘤内的许多细胞实际上会经历缺氧和酸中毒,这两种现象现在被认为是癌症的特征。缺氧和酸中毒作为血管生成、治疗抵抗、炎症和转移的强烈诱导剂,为癌症的进展和扩散创造了一个许可的微环境。基于这些考虑,我们决定将注意力集中在缺氧/酸中毒与 VM 之间的关系上。事实上,除了肿瘤血管生成,VM 还受到缺氧和酸中毒的强烈影响,它们可以相互增强,并加剧这个恶性循环。因此,针对缺氧和酸中毒可能是治疗 VM 的一个潜在靶点,以削弱肿瘤灌注和癌细胞的维持。
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