Tumor Cells Practice Vascular Mimicry In Metastatic Disease.

2001 MAY 17 - (NewsRx Network) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Scientists report in the American Journal of Pathology that aggressive tumor cells mimic angiogenesis in higher-grade ovarian cancers.

These cells, according to researchers at the University of Iowa, are more likely to spread and contribute to the development of tumors in the pelvic and abdominal areas. They create networks and channels within the tumors that resemble the vascular networks formed during neovascularization. Knowledge of this process, called vascular mimicry, could contribute to the development of tests for earlier diagnosis and better treatment methods, study authors say.

"Ovarian cancer is usually diagnosed as advanced stage disease in most patients when widespread metastases have already been established within the peritoneal cavity. In this study, we explored whether invasive ovarian carcinoma cells could engage in molecular vasculogenic mimicry reflected by their plasticity, compared with their normal cell counterparts," Anil K. Sood and colleagues said.

Researchers compared the growth characteristics of cells from lower-stage tumors with those obtained from higher-stage, invasive tumors.

"The data revealed that the invasive ovarian cancer cells, but not normal ovarian surface epithelial cells, formed patterned networks containing solid and hollow matrix channels when grown in three-dimensional cultures containing Matrigel or type I collagen, in the absence of endothelial cells or fibroblasts," Sood and colleagues noted.

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