Molecular Medicine Select

Metastasis is a multistep process in which primary tumor cells are re-established at distant organ sites and develop into secondary tumors. It accounts for the majority of deaths among patients with solid tumors, necessitating better elucidation of the mechanisms involved and development of new therapies to specifically block this process. One of the initiating events implicated in the onset of metastasis is the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a cellular process in which polarized epithelial cells change shape into motile mesenchymal cells. This issue's Molecular Medicine Select highlights recent work in an ongoing effort to better understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate tumor metastasis and EMT