Cancer Metastasis

The study of metastases now being vigorously pursued and the centre of much renewed interest is the essence of malignancy. Understanding how metastases develop and what can be done to control them is of vital importance to all oncologists. The reason for this renewed interest is due not only to the relevance of the problem, but is in part due to progress in other fields and their impact on metastases research. Metastasis is a phase in the progression of tumors and can be viewed as the final step in the pathology of malignancy. The various phases of the progression of tumors now appear more and more s parts of the total process of carcinogenesis, beginning with initiation and reaching stepwise the extreme condition of metastatic spread. The problem is therefore not only describing a biologic process, but to explain it in terms of mechanism. In this sense, fields which were far removed from the problems of metastasis are now part of it (e.g. genetics of metastasizing cell, oncogene expression, molecular biology of membrane etc.) The International Congress on Cancer Metastasis - Biological and Biochemical Mechanisms and Clinical Aspects, held in Bologna in My 1987 offered a comprehensive overview of the different aspects of the field. Special emphasis is given in this volume to the biology of metastasis and its relevance to treatment.