Biological factors driving colorectal cancer metastasis

©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved..

Approximately 20% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients present with metastasis at diagnosis. Among Stage I-III CRC patients who undergo surgical resection, 18% typically suffer from distal metastasis within the first three years following initial treatment. The median survival duration after the diagnosis of metastatic CRC (mCRC) is only 9 mo. mCRC is traditionally considered to be an advanced stage malignancy or is thought to be caused by incomplete resection of tumor tissue, allowing cancer cells to spread from primary to distant organs; however, increasing evidence suggests that the mCRC process can begin early in tumor development. CRC patients present with high heterogeneity and diverse cancer phenotypes that are classified on the basis of molecular and morphological alterations. Different genomic and nongenomic events can induce subclone diversity, which leads to cancer and metastasis. Throughout the course of mCRC, metastatic cascades are associated with invasive cancer cell migration through the circulatory system, extravasation, distal seeding, dormancy, and reactivation, with each step requiring specific molecular functions. However, cancer cells presenting neoantigens can be recognized and eliminated by the immune system. In this review, we explain the biological factors that drive CRC metastasis, namely, genomic instability, epigenetic instability, the metastatic cascade, the cancer-immunity cycle, and external lifestyle factors. Despite remarkable progress in CRC research, the role of molecular classification in therapeutic intervention remains unclear. This review shows the driving factors of mCRC which may help in identifying potential candidate biomarkers that can improve the diagnosis and early detection of mCRC cases.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:16

Enthalten in:

World journal of gastrointestinal oncology - 16(2024), 2 vom: 15. Feb., Seite 259-272

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

An, Shuai-Xing [VerfasserIn]
Yu, Zhao-Jin [VerfasserIn]
Fu, Chen [VerfasserIn]
Wei, Min-Jie [VerfasserIn]
Shen, Long-Hai [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Cancer immunity
Colorectal cancer
Epigenetic instability
Genomic variation
Journal Article
Lifestyle factor
Metastasis cascade
Review

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 08.03.2024

published: Print

Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE

doi:

10.4251/wjgo.v16.i2.259

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM369152832