New insights in melanoma metastasis formation and outgrowth
About 8% of all skin cancers in Belgium are melanomas, and the melanoma incidence has increased the past decennia due to an increased exposure to sunlight. Melanomas originate from melanocytes, specialized skin cells which produce melanin, the pigment that defines our skin and hair colour. Melanin is able to absorb part of the harmful UV light out of sunlight, and is therefore a natural type of sun protection. However, excessive exposure to sun light still causes these pigment cells to accumulate damage, which can eventually lead to the development of melanoma.
In comparison with other types of skin cancer, melanoma is a highly aggressive tumour that metastasizes quickly. It is not yet fully understood why this is the case. Researchers of the lab of Prof. Geert Berx investigate which processes and players are important for this fast and aggressive dissemination.
As such, they investigate a process in which cells detach from their neighbours and move to another place in the body, called epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). This process is essential for correct organ formation during development and wound healing. Cancer cells can hijack this process to be able to leave the primary tumour and move to other parts of the body to form metastases. Important players in this process are the ZEB proteins, but how their crosstalk is important in melanoma formation remained to be elucidated.
In the new article, recently published in the journal 'Cancer Research' (from the American Association for Cancer Research), Dr. Niels Vandamme and colleagues have shown that ZEB1 is essential for the dissemination of the melanoma cells, but that ZEB2 is the crucial player in melanoma outgrowth. Therefore, eliminating or inhibiting ZEB2 could be a promising therapeutic strategy to combat the outgrowth of melanomas.
The research was financed by IWT, Kom op Tegen Kanker, FWO, SBO, GOA, Vlaamse Liga tegen Kanker and Stichting tegen Kanker.
The UGent press release can be found here.