The mechanism of invasion and metastasis and the molecular obstruction of metastasis

Invasive growth and metastasis are the hallmarks of malignant cancer differing from benign diseases. It has been well accepted that morbidity in most cancer patients is mainly due to tumor metastasis that is highly resistant to the current conventional therapies, but not due to primary lesions. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms by which tumors progress to metastatic state and identifying molecular changes that take place in malignant cells will provide insight into development of therapeutic approaches that specifically target on one or more critical components of the tumor metastatic event, as well as will highly benefit cancer patients. Our research group will focus considerable interest upon defining the molecular events and key regulators in the process of tumor invasion and metastasis. We will conduct our studies in three aspects. （1） To define the molecular mechanisms by which tumors acquire malignant phenotype. We will explore the associations of tumor invasion/metastasis with cell cycle progression, cell proliferation, cell division, cell survival, apoptosis and related-signal transduction pathways. （2） To define the key events and major regulators in the process of tumor invasion and metastasis. We will identify the interactions between tumor cells and their “microenvironments”, including cell adhesion, migration, proteolysis, extracellular matrix and angiogenesis. （3） To develop biological obstruction of invasion and metastasis. Once we identify new molecular targets that play crucial roles in the progression of tumor malignancies, we will design the therapeutic agents to specifically block the process of tumor metastasis. In addition, we will also develop efficient approaches to improve conventional tumor therapies. Taken together, we will develop new anticancer drugs, which are designed through using metastasis-specific molecules as their targets.