|
 
Last update: |
 |
|
|
06-Jul-2016
|
 |
|
|
Arch Hellen Med, 33(4), July-August 2016, 458-471 REVIEW Cellular resistance to anoikis and programmed death as a cause of treatment failure in lung cancer V. Chatzimavridou-Grigoriadou,1,2 A.G. Mathioudakis,1,2 G.A. Mathioudakis,1 E. Evangelopoulou2 |
Certain cells that are detached from the supportive extracellular matrix (ECM), other than those of the hematopoietic tissues, are able to escape from "anoikis". Anoikis is a form of programmed cell death which ensures that cells detached from the surrounding ECM will not invade other organs. Detached cancer cells have a lower rate of reproduction and a higher resistance to chemotherapy and they signify the onset of metastasis by overriding anoikis. This partly explains the low potential of current chemotherapy protocols to eradicate micrometastases and reduce the frequency of recurrence after completion of chemotherapy. The avoidance of anoikis and programmed cell death constitutes one of the characteristic features of carcinogenesis but the mechanisms at the cellular level leading this phenomenon have not yet been clearly identified.
Key words: Anoikis, Chemotherapy, Lung cancer, Programmed death.
