Tumors, in order to grow, need a blood supply. The notion that vessels and cancer cells are intimately connected is one of the oldest in medicine. The first modality of cancer vascularization investigated in a systemic way is “angiogenesis” i.e. the sprouting of new vessels from the existing one. The development of these new vessels is induced by “angiogenic” factors secreted by cancer cells following the establishment of a hypoxic area in the young, growing neoplastic lesion. These newly formed vessels converge on the tumor and enter it, providing the necessary blood supply. For some years this was regarded as the only way a tumor could be vascularized and was seen as essential for neoplasms growth and progression.
A second modality has been subsequently discovered by which tumors, that do not induce angiogenesis i.e. “non-angiogenic” tumors, can grow and progress in absence of formation of new vessels, as they exploit the pre-existing normal vessels. The mechanism by which a cancer cell adheres to, and interact with, the abluminal side of pre-existing vessels has been named “vascular co-option” and, so far, this definition is reserved for the exploitation of pre-existing, normal vessels. Work from several authors has now put in evidence that, following co-option of a vessel, tumor growth is only one of the possible events. Another circumstance is that the neoplastic cells start to migrate along the vessel's abluminal surface, stopping at a variable distance and originating a metastatic lesion. Such behavior has been named “pericyte mimicry”. The third, possibly even more exciting event, is that, once the cancer cell has "co-opted” the vessel, it does not grow but remains dormant in a micro-environment called “perivascular niche”. Dormancy is somehow the “Holy Grail” of contemporary cancer research. The discovery that, following vascular co-option, cells can remain dormant has started a new line of research that, for the first time, is starting to tackle the biology of dormancy.
The study of “vascular co-option” from cancer cells is therefore a field that holds promises for improving our understanding of cancer growth, metastatic spread, and dormancy with the possibility to develop new therapeutic intervention on all these three events. In particular, should we start to be able to understand how to control dormancy, a new era in cancer treatment would dawn?
The main areas suggested for this Research Topic therefore includes:
- Molecular mechanisms of co-option
- Regulation of apoptotic pathways in co-option
- Co-option and the fate of the cell
- Pericyte mimicry
- Perivascular niche and cell dormancy
- Non-angiogenic tumor growth
- Interaction between cancer cells and newly formed vessel: a comparable co-option process?
Please Note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted in any of the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
Tumors, in order to grow, need a blood supply. The notion that vessels and cancer cells are intimately connected is one of the oldest in medicine. The first modality of cancer vascularization investigated in a systemic way is “angiogenesis” i.e. the sprouting of new vessels from the existing one. The development of these new vessels is induced by “angiogenic” factors secreted by cancer cells following the establishment of a hypoxic area in the young, growing neoplastic lesion. These newly formed vessels converge on the tumor and enter it, providing the necessary blood supply. For some years this was regarded as the only way a tumor could be vascularized and was seen as essential for neoplasms growth and progression.
A second modality has been subsequently discovered by which tumors, that do not induce angiogenesis i.e. “non-angiogenic” tumors, can grow and progress in absence of formation of new vessels, as they exploit the pre-existing normal vessels. The mechanism by which a cancer cell adheres to, and interact with, the abluminal side of pre-existing vessels has been named “vascular co-option” and, so far, this definition is reserved for the exploitation of pre-existing, normal vessels. Work from several authors has now put in evidence that, following co-option of a vessel, tumor growth is only one of the possible events. Another circumstance is that the neoplastic cells start to migrate along the vessel's abluminal surface, stopping at a variable distance and originating a metastatic lesion. Such behavior has been named “pericyte mimicry”. The third, possibly even more exciting event, is that, once the cancer cell has "co-opted” the vessel, it does not grow but remains dormant in a micro-environment called “perivascular niche”. Dormancy is somehow the “Holy Grail” of contemporary cancer research. The discovery that, following vascular co-option, cells can remain dormant has started a new line of research that, for the first time, is starting to tackle the biology of dormancy.
The study of “vascular co-option” from cancer cells is therefore a field that holds promises for improving our understanding of cancer growth, metastatic spread, and dormancy with the possibility to develop new therapeutic intervention on all these three events. In particular, should we start to be able to understand how to control dormancy, a new era in cancer treatment would dawn?
The main areas suggested for this Research Topic therefore includes:
- Molecular mechanisms of co-option
- Regulation of apoptotic pathways in co-option
- Co-option and the fate of the cell
- Pericyte mimicry
- Perivascular niche and cell dormancy
- Non-angiogenic tumor growth
- Interaction between cancer cells and newly formed vessel: a comparable co-option process?
Please Note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted in any of the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.