Epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in carcinoma metastasis

Tumor metastasis is a multistep process by which tumor cells disseminate from their primary site and form secondary tumors at a distant site. Metastasis occurs through a series of steps: local invasion, intravasation, transport, extravasation, and colonization. A developmental program termed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been shown to play a critical role in promoting metastasis in epithelium-derived carcinoma. Recent experimental and clinical studies have improved our knowledge of this dynamic program and implicated EMT and its reverse program, mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), in the metastatic process. Here, we review the functional requirement of EMT and/or MET during the individual steps of tumor metastasis and discuss the potential of targeting this program when treating metastatic diseases.