Trabectedin and plitidepsin: drugs from the sea that strike the tumor microenvironment.

ABSTRACT: The prevailing paradigm states that cancer cells acquire multiple genetic mutations in oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes whose respective activation/up-regulation or loss of function serve to impart aberrant properties, such as hyperproliferation or inhibition of cell death. However, a tumor is now considered as an organ-like structure, a complex system composed of multiple cell types (e.g., tumor cells, inflammatory cells, endothelial cells, fibroblasts, etc.) all embedded in an inflammatory stroma. All these components influence each other in a complex and dynamic cross-talk, leading to tumor cell survival and progression. As the microenvironment has such a crucial role in tumor pathophysiology, it represents an attractive target for cancer therapy. In this review, we describe the mech

SUBMITTER: Galmarini CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3944511 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature