间质-上皮转化在肿瘤转移中的作用

肿瘤转移是一个多步骤、多因素参与的复杂过程，是目前临床上绝大多数肿瘤患者的致死因素.上皮-间质转化(epithelial-mesenchymal transition, EMT)过程已被证实可促使肿瘤细胞发生转移.近年来许多研究表明,间质-上皮转化(mesenchymal-epithelial transition, MET)即EMT的逆过程，与肿瘤也密切相关，特别是肿瘤转移即形成继发性的肿瘤转移灶.深入研究肿瘤MET有望为肿瘤转移的预防和诊治提供新思路.

The Role of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Tumor Metastasis

Cancer metastasis consists of a series of complex processes involved in multi-steps and multi-factors and currently accounts for the majority of clinical cause of cancer cell death. Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) process is recognized to facilitate the dissemination of tumor cells. Recent studies have shown that the mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), the opposite of EMT, is critical for tumor, especially metastatic neoplasm, the establishment of secondary tumor metastatic lesions. The identification of MET in malignant tumor might offer novel insight to prevent and treat metastatic tumor.