Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Metastatic Disease: Interactions Between Tumor Cells And Host Environment During Cancer Cell Spread, Jennifer M. Maclean Jul 2011

Metastatic Disease: Interactions Between Tumor Cells And Host Environment During Cancer Cell Spread, Jennifer M. Maclean

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Tumor and metastasis formation are not cell autonomous phenomena, but rather an evolution of disease within and responding to the host environment. Metastatic spread from a primary tumor occurs as a result of a complex interplay between tumor cells and the host, wherein tumor cells must escape the primary tumor, enter the host vasculature, travel to and arrest in a distant tissue and survive and grow in that new organ. It is known that cells that progress through these stages must both escape and exploit host systems, yet the mechanisms used are not fully understood. Therefore, the goal of this …


From Isolated Tumour Cells To Overt Lymph Node Metastases: Biological And Imaging Studies On The Development Of Experimental Lymph Node Metastases, Michael M. Lizardo Apr 2011

From Isolated Tumour Cells To Overt Lymph Node Metastases: Biological And Imaging Studies On The Development Of Experimental Lymph Node Metastases, Michael M. Lizardo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Metastatic colonization and establishment of overt lymph node (LN) tumours indicates poor prognosis for cancer patients. However, the basic biology that influences the development of LN metastasis is poorly understood due to the lack of basic animal models. The following work provides a new lymph node experimental metastasis assay (LEMA) that permits the assessment of tumour cell fate after they arrest in draining LNs. In using this new model, we discovered that only 8% of the tumour cells that arrive in the LN are successful in forming overt tumours. This work also explored the use of imaging approaches to monitor …


Understanding Molecular Mechanisms Of Breast Cancer Metastasis Using Genetically-Engineered Mice, Leah M. Cook Jan 2011

Understanding Molecular Mechanisms Of Breast Cancer Metastasis Using Genetically-Engineered Mice, Leah M. Cook

All ETDs from UAB

Morbidity and mortality of breast cancer patients are drastically increased when primary tumor cells metastasize to distant organ sites. Effective treatment of metastatic disease has been limited; therefore, an increased molecular understanding to identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets is needed. Breast cancer metastasis suppressor 1 (BRMS1) suppresses development of metastases when expressed in a variety of cancer types, including metastatic mammary carcinoma. Little is known of Brms1 function throughout the initiation and progression of mammary carcinoma. Thus Brms1 transgenic mice (derived on C57BL/6 background) were generated by utilizing MMTV promoter expression (for mammary-selective overexpression) or the beta-actin promoter (for ubiquitous …