Lessons Learned From Lymphocytes: CC Chemokine Receptor-7 Involved in Lymphogenic Metastasis of Melanoma

Abstract

The metastatic potential of primary tumors is the chief prognostic determinant of malignant disease (1). Although distinct patterns of metastasis have long been recognized by clinicians, the underlying molecular mechanisms along with the alterations in gene expression of tumor cells required for these processes have begun to emerge only recently. Metastasis and invasion are regulated by extensive interactions and signaling events between the tumor and the local host tissue [reviewed in (2)]. Two principal pathways of metastasis can be distinguished: lymphogenic metastasis to regional lymph nodes and hematogenic metastasis to distant organs. Lately, it has become clear that the two major routes of metastasis, through the lymphatic system and the bloodstream, are not paths by which disseminated tumor cells are distributed in a haphazard fashion. Rather, the process of metastasis is intimately related to the pathways and mechanisms used in physiologic leukocyte migration. The potential of tumor cells to metastasize is determined by their individual expression profile of genes involved in cell migration.