Cancer Metastasis consists of a series of discrete biological processes that remain poorly understood. It is long recognized that the organ distribution of metastases is non-random, best described by the "seed and soil" hypothesis: metastasis depends on crosstalk between selected cancer cells (the 'seeds') and specific organ microenvironments (the 'soil'). Metastasis appears to favor only a few organs/tissues, including lung, liver, bone marrow/bone, lymph nodes and, to a lesser extent, brain and adrenal glands. While there has been extensive research into how cancer cells (seed) can establish metastasis in these organs, there is much less understanding on why most organs, such as the gastro...

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Cancer Metastasis consists of a series of discrete biological processes that remain poorly understood. It is long recognized that the organ distribution of metastases is non-random, best described by the "seed and soil" hypothesis: metastasis depends on crosstalk between selected cancer cells (the 'seeds') and specific organ microenvironments (the 'soil'). Metastasis appears to favor only a few organs/tissues, including lung, liver, bone marrow/bone, lymph nodes and, to a lesser extent, brain and adrenal glands. While there has been extensive research into how cancer cells (seed) can establish metastasis in these organs, there is much less understanding on why most organs, such as the gastrointestinal organs, connective tissues etc, are rarely sites of metastasis (bad soil). It is hypothesized that "bad soils" contain factors that prevent metastasis formation. Identifying these factors that can prevent metastasis and understand the "bad soil" biology can be of very high impact on cancer biology research and cancer management. It can reveal novel biology as well as treatment targets. The key challenge in studies involving "bad soil" has been the lack of model systems that can recapitulate the in vivo organ specificity of metastasis. Our group has developed a novel model system using tissue engineering technologies where we can recapitulate the good and bad "soils" of metastasis. This application aims to further establish this system and explore the important factors that prevent metastasis formation.

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