Plasticity of cancer cell invasion: Patterns and mechanisms

Jia-Shun Wu; Jian Jiang; Bing-Jun Chen; Ke Wang; Ya-Ling Tang; Xin-Hua Liang

doi:10.1016/j.tranon.2020.100899

Plasticity of cancer cell invasion: Patterns and mechanisms

Transl Oncol. 2021 Jan;14(1):100899. doi: 10.1016/j.tranon.2020.100899. Epub 2020 Oct 17.

Authors

Jia-Shun Wu¹, Jian Jiang², Bing-Jun Chen¹, Ke Wang¹, Ya-Ling Tang³, Xin-Hua Liang⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
² Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. Electronic address: tangyaling@scu.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. Electronic address: lxh88866@scu.edu.cn.

Abstract

Cancer cell migration and invasion are integral components of metastatic disease, which is the major cause of death in cancer patients. Cancer cells can disseminate and migrate via several alternative mechanisms including amoeboid cell migration, mesenchymal cell migration, and collective cell migration. These diverse movement strategies display certain specific and distinct hallmarks in cell-cell junctions, actin cytoskeleton, matrix adhesion, and protease activity. During tumor progression, cells pass through complex microenvironments and adapt their migration strategies by reversible mesenchymal-amoeboid and individual-collective transitions. This plasticity in motility patterns enables cancer cells disseminate further and thus limit the efficiency of anti-metastasis therapies. In this review, we discuss the modes and mechanisms of cancer cell migration and focus on the plasticity of tumor cell movement as well as potential emerging therapeutic options for reducing cancer cell invasion.

Keywords: Amoeboid cell migration; Amoeboid-mesenchymal transition; Cancer cell invasion; Mesenchymal cell migration; Mesenchymal-amoeboid transition.

Publication types

Review