Background: Prostate cancer is highly prevalent and is a frequent cause of death in men. As for most other cancers the prognosis is largely determined by the occurrence of metastases. Future treatment of prostate cancer should focus on inhibition of the cancer cells' ability to invade surrounding tissues--and to metastasise. In order to develop such therapies, it is important to unveil the mechanisms that lead to an invasive phenotype. Development of invasive tumours resemble processes involved in embryonic development, e.g. during formation of the mesoderm. The latter is characterised by a sequence of events whereby epithelial ectodermic cells acquire a migratory phenotype, which directly parallels the formation of invasive behaviour in carcinomas.
Material and methods: The present review is based on articles published in well-recognized journals of high international ranking. Some of the considerations also draw on the authors' personal experience in clinical work and basic research.
Results: Gastrulation is the process in which the three types of tissue stem cells move to different areas in the embryo (morphogenetic movement) and form the basis for various tissues and organs. This overview calls attention to the fact that events during carcinoma development, are strikingly similar to cellular changes during gastrulation.
Interpretation: A thorough understanding of gastrulation may provide a fruitful framework for new insight into cancer cell invasion and metastasis. This knowledge may in turn be exploited to develop drugs with anti-invasive properties which could revolutionise the treatment of carcinoma of the prostate and other sites.