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Tumor metastasis: mechanistic insights and clinical challenges

Nature Medicine volume 12, pages 895–904 (2006)Cite this article

Metastatic disease is the primary cause of death for most cancer patients. Complex and redundant pathways involving the tumor cell and the microenvironment mediate tumor invasion at the primary site, survival and arrest in the bloodstream, and progressive outgrowth at a distant site. Understanding these pathways and their dynamic interactions will help identify promising molecular targets for cancer therapy and key obstacles to their clinical development.

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Figure 1: The tumor metastatic process.
Figure 2: Dynamic signaling in invasion.
Figure 3: Tumor cell–microenvironment interactions in osteoclastic bone metastases.
Figure 4: Surveillance Epidemiology and End Result (SEER) program stage distribution of cancer at diagnosis.

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Acknowledgements

I apologize to the many authors whose work is not cited due to space limitations. This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, US National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Women's Cancers Section, Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute Building 37, Room 1122, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, Maryland, USA

    Patricia S Steeg

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Steeg, P. Tumor metastasis: mechanistic insights and clinical challenges. Nat Med 12, 895–904 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1469

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