Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular process by which epithelial cells lose their characteristics and acquire mesenchymal traits to promote cell movement. This program is aberrantly activated in human cancers and endows tumor cells with increased abilities in tumor initiation, cell migration, invasion, metastasis, and therapy resistance. The EMT program in tumors is rarely binary and often leads to a series of gradual or intermediate epithelial-mesenchymal states. Functionally, epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity (EMP) improves the fitness of cancer cells during tumor progression and in response to therapies. Here, we discuss the most recent advances in our understanding of the diverse roles of EMP in tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, and therapy resistance and address major clinical challenges due to EMP-driven phenotypic heterogeneity in cancer. Uncovering novel molecular markers and key regulators of EMP in cancer will aid the development of new therapeutic strategies to prevent cancer recurrence and overcome therapy resistance.

中文翻译：

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上皮间充质可塑性在癌症进展中的最新进展


上皮-间充质转化 （EMT） 是一种细胞过程，通过该过程，上皮细胞失去其特性并获得间充质特征以促进细胞运动。该程序在人类癌症中异常激活，并赋予肿瘤细胞在肿瘤起始、细胞迁移、侵袭、转移和治疗耐药方面的能力增强。肿瘤中的 EMT 程序很少是二元的，通常会导致一系列渐进或中间的上皮-间充质状态。在功能上，上皮-间充质可塑性 （EMP） 改善了癌细胞在肿瘤进展期间和对治疗的反应中的适应性。在这里，我们讨论了我们对 EMP 在肿瘤发生、进展、转移和治疗耐药中的不同作用的理解方面的最新进展，并解决了由于 EMP 驱动的癌症表型异质性而导致的主要临床挑战。揭示癌症中 EMP 的新分子标志物和关键调节因子将有助于开发新的治疗策略，以防止癌症复发并克服治疗耐药性。