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Review
. 2022 Nov 22;12(12):1723.
doi: 10.3390/biom12121723.

Current Progress of EMT: A New Direction of Targeted Therapy for Colorectal Cancer with Invasion and Metastasis

Zhuomin Tan  1 , Wenyan Sun  1 , Ya Li  1 , Xingmeng Jiao  2 , Mingliang Zhu  1 , Junfei Zhang  1 , Chen Qing  1 , Yinnong Jia  1
Affiliations
Review

Current Progress of EMT: A New Direction of Targeted Therapy for Colorectal Cancer with Invasion and Metastasis

Zhuomin Tan et al. Biomolecules. .

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignant tumor with a high frequency of recurrence and metastasis, which are the major causes of death in patients. The prerequisite for the invasion and metastasis is the strong mobility of CRC cells to transport far away from the original site to the distant organs and tissues, where they settle down and proliferate. It was reported that the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is involved in the occurrence and development of various tumors in the entire process of tumor invasion and metastasis. Therefore, as a vital factor for the biological characteristics of tumor cells, EMT markers may serve as prognostic predictors and potential therapeutic targets in CRC. This article mainly reviews the current status of CRC with metastasis, the studies of EMT, the possible relationship of EMT with CRC, as well as the potential targeted therapy.

Keywords: EMT; colorectal cancer; signal pathway; targeted therapy; tumor invasion and metastasis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Invasion and metastasis of CRC. The number of asterisks in organs represents the amount of CRC tumor cells localized.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The conversion of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal epithelial transformation (MET).
Figure 3
Figure 3
EMT-transcriptional factors activated by extracellular and intracellular pathways to regulate EMT. From left to right: Notch, NF-ĸB, RAF/ERK, PI3K/Akt, Wnt/β-catenin, TGF-β.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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