Waltregny D, Castronovo V
Metastasis Research Laboratory, University of Liège, Belgium.
Tumori. 1996 May-Jun;82(3):193-204.
Prostate cancer in men has now surpassed lung cancer as the most frequent non-cutaneous cancer. From a biological perspective, prostate carcinoma is unique among human malignancies in the wide discrepancy that exists between the prevalence of 'latent' cancer, recognizable only histologically, and that of the clinical disease. Histologically detected localized prostate cancers are heterogeneous, with only a small subset having undergone all of the malignant changes required to produce clinically aggressive tumors. Most of these 'latent' carcinoma never become fully malignant and do not threaten the life or well-being of the host. At present, it is not possible to predict which localized cancers will progress to clinically overt disease. Likewise, many patients have underevaluated and unpredictable extent of their prostate carcinoma, thus resulting in inadequate therapeutic strategies. It is clear that we need to identify molecular and/or cellular markers that are able to define the invasive and metastatic potential of prostate cancer on an individual patient basis. Acquisition of metastatic ability is a definitive criterion by which substage localized prostate cancers. Under the light of recent studies designed to identify some of the features associated with the metastatic phenotype of prostate cancer, the authors review recent advances aimed at gaining insight into those factors that may be involved in prostate cancer metastasis.
男性前列腺癌现已超过肺癌，成为最常见的非皮肤癌。从生物学角度来看，前列腺癌在人类恶性肿瘤中独具特色，因为在仅通过组织学可识别的“潜伏”癌患病率与临床疾病患病率之间存在巨大差异。组织学检测到的局限性前列腺癌具有异质性，只有一小部分经历了产生临床侵袭性肿瘤所需的所有恶性变化。这些“潜伏”癌中的大多数从未完全恶变，也不会威胁宿主的生命或健康。目前，无法预测哪些局限性癌症会进展为临床显性疾病。同样，许多患者的前列腺癌评估不足且范围不可预测，从而导致治疗策略不充分。显然，我们需要识别能够在个体患者基础上确定前列腺癌侵袭和转移潜能的分子和/或细胞标志物。获得转移能力是局部前列腺癌分期的决定性标准。鉴于最近旨在识别与前列腺癌转移表型相关的一些特征的研究，作者回顾了旨在深入了解可能参与前列腺癌转移的那些因素的最新进展。
