Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University

Tumor Metastasis and Drug Resistance

In general, two issues including carcinoma in situ and metastatic tumors are the major parts of metastatic studies. However, the impact of the intravascular microenvironment on tumor metastasis is often ignored, leading to the gap of knowledge in understanding of tumor survival and distal metastasis in anchorage-independent microenvironment. According to clinical relevance, we further investigate cytokines including PGE₂, ANGPTL4, and PTX3 that regulate anoikis resistance, metastasis and drug resistance using cell and animal models. The outcomes of these studies can be further associated with cancer treatment and anticancer drug resistance. In addition, the correlation between the effect of ANGPTL4 and PTX3 on COX-2 activation, resulting in promoting tumor metastasis would be clarified. These results can help us to evaluate anti-inflammatory drugs celecoxib and aspirin in the prevention of cancer metastasis.

Metastatic cancer is malignant and obtains drug resistance which makes it the leading cause of cancer-related death. The metastatic cancer cells not only resist to anoikis in the circulation but also avoid immune surveillance. On the other hand, signal molecules such as cytokines, growth factors, and chemokines in the microenvironment can promotes intravasation. However, the mechanism involved in the regulation of metastatic cancer cells to infiltrate and transplant to distal tissues remains unclear.