| [ Summary ] |
The process of metastasis, has been shown to occur in a multistep process: detachment from a primary lesion, migration into the extracellular matrix, invasion of vessels, movement through the circulatory system, adhesion to the capillaries, penetration of the endothelial base membrane, and proliferation to form secondary deposits. It has been confirmed that alterations in several genes have been implicated in each step of the metastasis of colorectal cancer. This article reviews recent highlights in the molecular pathology of colorectal cancer metastasis. The E-cadher in-catenin system, carbohydrate chains, selectin, and variant CD44 are all known to play important roles in cell migration from the primary lesion, the adhesion of tumor cells to endothelial cells, and cell motility. Matrix metalloproteinase and tumor angiogenesis is essential in cancer cell migration and metastasis. Other genes, such as Rho, c-erbB2, nm23-H1, DCC and smad 4 correlate closely with metastasis. |