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22 Tumor Metastasis

pp. 61–63.

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/64495

#### **Abstract**

Metastasis is a complicated course that involves the spread of a neoplasm to distant parts of the body from its original site. A cancer cell must complete a series of steps before it becomes a clinically detectable lesion for successful colonization in the body. These are separation from the primary tumor, invasion and penetration of their basement membranes, entry into the blood vessels and survival within blood, and entry into lymphatics. A major challenge in extracellular matrix (ECM) biology is to understand the roles of the ECM and how disruption of ECM dynamics may contribute to cancer. A noteworthy area of forthcoming cancer research will be to determine whether abnor‐ mal ECM could be an effective cancer therapeutic target. We should understand how ECM composition and organization are normally maintained and how they may be deregulated in cancer. So the aims of this chapter were to focus on extracellular matrix. Invasion and metastatic skills, properties and functions of the ECM, abnormal ECM dynamics, tumor microenvironment and ECM, details of ECM invasion, role of ECM and ECM‐associated proteins in metastasis, tumor dormant and metastatic process, essential component of the niches, role of the ECM in tumor angiogenesis and lymphangiogene‐ sis are be briefly explained in this chapter.

**Keywords:** extracellular matrix, niche, tumor dormancy, metastasis, cancer
