Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1-2022

Publication Title

Medical review (2021)

Keywords

JGM, cancer invasion, cancer metabolism, cancer progression, cancer therapy, cell-ECM interaction, extracellular matrix, metastasis

JAX Source

Med Rev (2021) . 2022 Apr 26;2(2):125-139.

Volume

2

Issue

2

First Page

125

Last Page

139

PMID

37724245

DOI

10.1515/mr-2021-0028

Grant

This work was partially supported by the National Institute of Health grants from NCI (R01CA201340) and NEI (1R01EY028450).

Abstract

The tumor ecosystem with heterogeneous cellular compositions and the tumor microenvironment has increasingly become the focus of cancer research in recent years. The extracellular matrix (ECM), the major component of the tumor microenvironment, and its interactions with the tumor cells and stromal cells have also enjoyed tremendously increased attention. Like the other components of the tumor microenvironment, the ECM in solid tumors differs significantly from that in normal organs and tissues. We review recent studies of the complex roles the tumor ECM plays in cancer progression, from tumor initiation, growth to angiogenesis and invasion. We highlight that the biomolecular, biophysical, and mechanochemical interactions between the ECM and cells not only regulate the steps of cancer progression, but also affect the efficacy of systemic cancer treatment. We further discuss the strategies to target and modify the tumor ECM to improve cancer therapy.

Comments

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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