Wang Jue, Huang Qionglian, Ning Hanjuan, Liu Weiwei, Han Xianghui
Institute of Chinese Traditional Surgery, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Arch Pharm Res. 2025 Sep 25. doi: 10.1007/s12272-025-01572-y.
Extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1) is a multifunctional glycosylated protein associated with the cell membrane. Increasing evidence indicates that aberrant ECM1 expression in cancer cells promotes tumor growth and metastasis by regulating proliferation, invasion, migration, and drug resistance. Beyond its direct effects on cancer cells, ECM1 plays a pivotal role in shaping the tumor microenvironment by contributing to angiogenesis, inflammatory responses, and the activation of cancer-associated fibroblasts, which collectively drive malignant progression. Immunohistochemical studies have demonstrated that ECM1 is highly expressed in a wide range of invasive cancers compared with adjacent normal tissues, underscoring its potential as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker. Moreover, elevated ECM1 expression is consistently associated with poor clinical outcomes across multiple malignancies. In this review, we comprehensively summarize research from the past decade on the role of ECM1 in cancer progression, evaluate its potential as a prognostic biomarker, and highlight recent advances in ECM1-targeted therapeutic strategies. Overall, this review provides new insights into the multifaceted roles of ECM1 in cancer biology and its promise as a molecular target for innovative cancer therapies.
细胞外基质蛋白1（ECM1）是一种与细胞膜相关的多功能糖基化蛋白。越来越多的证据表明，癌细胞中异常的ECM1表达通过调节增殖、侵袭、迁移和耐药性来促进肿瘤生长和转移。除了对癌细胞的直接影响外，ECM1在塑造肿瘤微环境中起着关键作用，它通过促进血管生成、炎症反应以及激活癌症相关成纤维细胞来共同推动恶性进展。免疫组织化学研究表明，与相邻正常组织相比，ECM1在多种浸润性癌症中高表达，这突出了其作为诊断和预后生物标志物的潜力。此外，ECM1表达升高在多种恶性肿瘤中始终与不良临床结果相关。在本综述中，我们全面总结了过去十年关于ECM1在癌症进展中作用的研究，评估其作为预后生物标志物的潜力，并强调了ECM1靶向治疗策略的最新进展。总体而言，本综述为ECM1在癌症生物学中的多方面作用及其作为创新癌症治疗分子靶点的前景提供了新的见解。
