Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0178874 (tumor progression)
 40,807 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Previous studies of tumor cell-associated procoagulants and fibrinolytic factors have strongly suggested that local thrombin and plasmin generation may be important in tumor growth and dissemination. Given that one central target of both of these serine proteases is fibrin(ogen), a logical extension of this hypothesis is that local fibrin deposition and dissolution may be key determinants of tumor progression. In this paper, the role of fibrin(ogen) and its degradation products in the growth and spontaneous metastasis of Lewis lung carcinoma was directly examined by comparative studies of control and fibrinogen-deficient mice. Fibrinogen deficiency was found to have no effect on the time required for the formation of palpable tumors, tumor angiogenesis, overall tumor architecture, or primary (s.c.) or secondary (pulmonary) tumor growth. However, fibrinogen deficiency markedly reduced the incidence of spontaneous macroscopic metastases in the lung and regional lymph nodes, a process that occurred relatively late in tumor development. Furthermore, a significant quantitative reduction in pulmonary micrometastases was observed in fibrinogen-deficient mice. Quantitative analyses of pulmonary micrometastases in primary tumor-bearing mice indicated that spontaneous showering of tumor cell emboli into the lung was robust, regardless of animal genotype. Hence, our results suggest fibrin(ogen) plays an important role in spontaneous metastasis, facilitating the stable adhesion and/or survival of metastatic emboli after tumor cell intravasation. These studies suggest that therapeutic strategies focusing on hemostatic factors may be effective in controlling solid tumor metastasis, particularly if used for the treatment of micrometastatic disease.
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PMID:Spontaneous hematogenous and lymphatic metastasis, but not primary tumor growth or angiogenesis, is diminished in fibrinogen-deficient mice. 1246 Sep 14

A link between colitis and colon cancer is well established, but the mechanisms regulating inflammation in this context are not fully defined. Given substantial evidence that hemostatic system components are powerful modulators of both inflammation and tumor progression, we used gene-targeted mice to directly test the hypothesis that the coagulation factor fibrinogen contributes to colitis-associated colon cancer in mice. This fundamental provisional matrix protein was found to be an important determinant of colon cancer. Fibrinogen deficiency resulted in a dramatic diminution in the number of colonic adenomas formed following azoxymethane/dextran sodium sulfate challenge. More detailed analyses in mice expressing a mutant form of fibrinogen that retains clotting function, but lacks the leukocyte integrin receptor alpha(M)beta(2) binding motif (Fibgamma(390-396A)), revealed that alpha(M)beta(2)-mediated engagement of fibrin(ogen) is mechanistically coupled to local inflammatory processes (e.g., interleukin-6 elaboration) and epithelial alterations that contribute to adenoma formation. Consistent with these findings, the majority of Fibgamma(390-396A) mice developed no discernable adenomas, whereas penetrance was 100% in controls. Furthermore, the adenomas harvested from Fibgamma(390-396A) mice were significantly smaller than those from control mice and less proliferative based on quantitative analyses of mitotic indices, suggesting an additional role for fibrin(ogen) in the growth of established adenomas. These studies show, for the first time, a unique link between fibrin(ogen) and the development of inflammation-driven malignancy. Given the importance of antecedent inflammation in the progression of numerous cancers, these studies suggest that therapies targeting fibrin(ogen)-alpha(M)beta(2) interactions may be useful in preventing and/or treating this important subset of malignancies.
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PMID:Colitis-associated cancer is dependent on the interplay between the hemostatic and inflammatory systems and supported by integrin alpha(M)beta(2) engagement of fibrinogen. 2023 70