Collection on reports of molecules linked to epithelial-mesenchymal transition in the process of treating metastasizing cancer: a narrative review.

Abstract

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a morphological process in which epithelial cells transform into mesenchymal cells via a specific procedure. EMT plays an important role in the cancer invasion-metastasis cascade and the current treatment of metastatic cancer, influences the migration, polarity, and adhesion of tumor cells, promotes their migration, invasiveness, anti-apoptotic ability. It contributes to the changes of the tumor microenvironment and suppresses the sensitivity of tumor cells to chemotherapy, causing cancer metastasis and worse, hindering the control and therapy of it. This paper reviews the mechanisms, detection, and treatments of cancer metastasis that have been identified and applied to date, summarizes the EMT-related biological molecules, providing a reference for EMT-targeted research and therapy. As EMT is significant in the progress of tumor metastasis, it is meaningful for the therapy and control of metastatic cancer to understand the mechanism of EMT at the molecular level. We summarized the mechanisms, detection and therapeutic implications of EMT, listed the research progress of molecules like genes, miRNAs, signaling pathways in EMT. We also discussed the prospects of EMT-targeted treatment in cancer metastasis interventions and the challenges the treatment and researches are facing. The summary is conducive to the treatment and further research of EMT and metastatic cancer.

• Authors: Yiyi Cai, Boyuan Wang, Bingying Li, Xintong Huang, Haoyue Guo, Yu Liu, Bin Chen, Sha Zhao, Shengyu Wu, Wei Li, Lei Wang, Keyi Jia, Hao Wang, Peixin Chen, Minlin Jiang, Xuzhen Tang, Hui Qi, Chunlei Dai, Junyan Ye, Yayi He
• Journal: Annals of translational medicine (Ann Transl Med) Vol. 9 Issue 11 Pg. 946 (Jun 2021) ISSN: 2305-5839 [Print] China
• PMID: 34350261 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: 2021 Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.