Cancer metastasis and adhesion molecules.

Malignant tumor cells express various cell adhesion molecules. Experimental evidence indicates that dysregulation of adhesion mechanisms plays an important role in tumor metastasis. The results of clinical studies corroborate this notion, and altered expression of cell adhesion molecules has been related to the prognosis or biologic behavior of human primary tumors and their metastases. The molecular events underlying the spread of malignant tumor cells to distant sites from the view point of cell adhesion are reviewed in this article.