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REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1442888

Tumor Microenvironment and Cancer Metastasis: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications

Provisionally accepted
Cigir Biray Avci Cigir Biray Avci 1Bakiye Goker Bagca Bakiye Goker Bagca 2Masoud Nikanfar Masoud Nikanfar 3Leila S. Takanlou Leila S. Takanlou 1Maryam S. Takanlou Maryam S. Takanlou 1Alireza Nourazarian Alireza Nourazarian 4*
  • 1 EGE University, Izmir, Türkiye
  • 2 Adnan Menderes University, Aydın, Aydın, Türkiye
  • 3 Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
  • 4 Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Khoy University of Medical Sciences, Khoy, Khoy, Iran

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a crucial role in cancer development and metastasis. This review summarizes the current research on how the TME promotes metastasis through molecular pathways, focusing on key components, such as cancer-associated fibroblasts, immune cells, endothelial cells, cytokines, and the extracellular matrix. Significant findings have highlighted that alterations in cellular communication within the TME enable tumor cells to evade immune surveillance, survive, and invade other tissues. This review highlights the roles of TGF-β and VEGF signaling in promoting angiogenesis and extracellular matrix remodeling, which facilitate metastasis. Additionally, we explored how metabolic reprogramming of tumor and stromal cells, influenced by nutrient availability in the TME, drives cancer progression. This study also evaluated the therapeutic strategies targeting these interactions to disrupt metastasis.By providing a multidisciplinary perspective, this study suggests that understanding the molecular basis of the TME can lead to more effective cancer therapies and identify potential avenues for future research. Future research on the TME should prioritize unraveling the molecular and cellular interactions within this complex environment, which could lead to novel therapeutic strategies and personalized cancer treatments. Moreover, advancements in technologies such as single-cell analysis, spatial transcriptomics, and epigenetic profiling offer promising avenues for identifying new therapeutic targets and improving the efficacy of immunotherapies, particularly in the context of metastasis.

    Keywords: Tumor Microenvironment, Molecular mechanisms, cancer metastasis, Cellular Microenvironment, Signal Transduction

    Received: 03 Jun 2024; Accepted: 01 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Biray Avci, Goker Bagca, Nikanfar, Takanlou, Takanlou and Nourazarian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Alireza Nourazarian, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Khoy University of Medical Sciences, Khoy, Khoy, Iran

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.