Overview
- Editors:
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Ursula Günthert
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Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel, Switzerland
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Walter Birchmeier
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Max-βDelbrūck-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin, Berlin, Germany
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About this book
In metastasis, tumor cells disseminate from the primary lesion and home to secondary organs where they may remain dormant for a long time. Metastasis formation is still the most feared manifestation for tumor patients and clinicians. Although improvements have been made concerning earlier detection and specific therapy, most of the cancer patients still die of distant metastases. The pu-rpose of these three volumes is to review the recent progress in molecular metas tasis research and to attempt to further understand the biol ogy of this multifocal process. With respect to present day molecular biology, the pioneers of metastasis research established the basic concepts of metasta sis formation in the 1970s and 1980s, namely, clonal selection of metastatic cells, heterogeneity of metastatic subpopulations, organ specificity of metastasis and the importance of angio genesis (Fidler, Kripke, Nicolson, Folkman and others). In the 1980s and 1990s, several of the molecules involved were identified and their network interactions elucidated. These three volumes of Current Topics in Microbiology and Immuno logy compile the most recent developments on these meta stasis-related molecules; their interactions, regulation, and ways to interfere with their action. It became evident that metastasis-related molecules are confined to distinct cellular compartments, such as the extracellular space, the cell membrane, the cytoplasmic signalling network, and the nuclear regulatory system. For the complex metastatic cascade, proteolysis and alterations in adhesive functions are the most obvious and thus one of the most thoroughly investigated processes.
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Article
Open access
12 March 2020
Table of contents (16 chapters)
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- W. C. Powell, L. M. Matrisian
Pages 1-21
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- P. Mignatti, D. B. Rifkin
Pages 33-50
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- R. Sager, S. Sheng, P. Pemberton, M. J. C. Hendrix
Pages 51-64
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- J. P. Johnson, M. M. Rummel, U. Rothbächer, C. Sers
Pages 95-105
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- M. E. Bracke, F. M. Van Roy, M. M. Mareel
Pages 123-161
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- B. Boyer, A. M. Vallés, J. P. Thiery
Pages 179-194
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- B. A. Imhof, L. Piali, R. H. Gisler, D. Dunon
Pages 195-203
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- L. Sherman, J. Sleeman, P. Dall, A. Hekele, J. Moll, H. Ponta et al.
Pages 249-269
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Back Matter
Pages 288-293
Editors and Affiliations
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Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel, Switzerland
Ursula Günthert
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Max-βDelbrūck-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin, Berlin, Germany
Walter Birchmeier