Premium
New evidence for tumour embolism as a mode of metastasis
Author(s) -
Hart Ian R
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.2616
Subject(s) - metastasis , epithelial–mesenchymal transition , pathological , pathology , cancer research , medicine , cancer , biology
The demonstration that a significant proportion of patients with renal carcinomas of the clear cell type have tumour cell clumps or aggregates in venous outflow from the kidney has interest from two viewpoints. Firstly, the association of this occurrence with high VEGF‐A production by the cancer seems to suggest a novel mode of ‘budding’ invasion where nests of tumour cells enter the dilated and mechanically fragile new vessels supplying the cancerous growth. Secondly, with the association of fragment occurrence and metastatic development, the entrance of clumps into the circulation indicates that epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is not an obligatory step for the disseminatory behaviour of all cancers. Copyright © 2009 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.