Novosti u mozaiku metastaziranja zloćudnih tumora

Despite the abundance of attention that cancer has attracted, it continues to constitute one of the deadliest scourges of the modern era. Tumour heterogeneity greatly contributes to the ineffectiveness of current therapies and hampers the study and treatment of cancer. There are two models accounting for tumour heterogeneity and propagation, namely clonal evolution model and cancer stem cell model. In particular, cancer stem theory has attracted much attention lately, as these cells with self-renewal and differentiation abilities are responsible for the initiation of tumour development, growth, and its ability to metastasize and reoccur, and provide a reasonable explanation for poor prognosis for patients in advanced stages of solid tumours. Advances in technologies such as proteomics open new avenues in metastasis research by specifically revealing complex protein networks involved in tumour progression, which should facilitate early diagnosis and provide the basis for designing more effective treatment strategies.Novosti u mozaiku metastaziranja zloćudnih tumora Unatoč napretku u istraživanju i proučavanju zloćudnih tumora, ta je bolest i dalje velik izazov modernoj medicini. Biološka raznolikost, ali i klasično poimanje mehanizama metastaziranja tumora, razlog su neučinkovitosti postojećih načina liječenja. Dva su modela kojima se objašnjava ta raznolikost – model klonske evolucije te model matičnih stanica novotvorina. Ovaj drugi u posljednje je vrijeme privukao pozornost jer su matične stanice novotvorina, zbog svojih sposobnosti samostalnog obnavljanja i diferenciranja, odgovorne za nastanak i razvoj tumora te njihovu sposobnost metastaziranja i pojave recidiva. Metode globalnih analiza poput proteomike otvaraju nove mogućnosti u istraživanju procesa metastaziranja, jer omogućuju identifikaciju složenih mreža proteina uključenih u progresiju novotvorina, što može pridonijeti ranoj dijagnostici i omogućiti razvoj učinkovitijih lijekova protiv metastaza