Androgen receptor, neovascularization and liver cancer metastasis

The mechanisms underlying the recurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are poorly understood. In 2015, Zhuang and her colleagues identified a unique histopathological structure in HCC tissues, which they dubbed VETC, standing for vessels that encapsulate tumor clusters.1 In the VETC structure, sinusoid-like vessels form a cobweb-like network that encapsulates individual tumor cell clusters. These endothelium-wrapped tumor cell clusters were released into the blood stream and formed metastatic tumors in a manner independent of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), another well-known tumor metastatic process.
Source: Journal of Hepatology - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research