Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition: Role in Cancer Progression and the Perspectives of Antitumor Treatment.

ABSTRACT: About 90% of all malignant tumors are of epithelial nature. The epithelial tissue is characterized by a close interconnection between cells through cell-cell interactions, as well as a tight connection with the basement membrane, which is responsible for cell polarity. These interactions strictly determine the location of epithelial cells within the body and are seemingly in conflict with the metastatic potential that many cancers possess (the main criteria for highly malignant tumors). Tumor dissemination into vital organs is one of the primary causes of death in patients with cancer. Tumor dissemination is based on the so-called epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process when epithelial cells are transformed into mesenchymal cells possessing high mobility and migration potential.

SUBMITTER: Gaponova AV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7604894 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul-Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature