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Hallmarks of Cancer: Molecular Underpinnings

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Cancer Metastasis Through the Lymphovascular System

Abstract

Cancer, a genetic disease, is an autonomous organ composed of heterogeneous cancer cell clones supported by its microenvironment. The cancer cells gain a set of properties and characteristics called hallmarks of cancer and enabling characteristics, respectively, that highjack the normal cellular mechanisms for their purpose. These are thought to be acquired in a stepwise fashion, in no particular order, giving cancer cells a survival advantage over normal cells, making them self-sustainable, invade and metastasize to distant locations. This chapter provides a brief overview and key concepts on the molecular underpinnings of cancer cells composed of eight hallmarks of cancer and two enabling characteristics.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, USA

    Dhananjay A. Chitale

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  1. Dhananjay A. Chitale
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Correspondence to Dhananjay A. Chitale .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery and Melanoma Center, California Pacific Medical Center and Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Stanley P. Leong

  2. Henry Ford Cancer Institute, Detroit, MI, USA

    S. David Nathanson

  3. Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA

    Jonathan S. Zager

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Chitale, D.A. (2022). Hallmarks of Cancer: Molecular Underpinnings. In: Leong, S.P., Nathanson, S.D., Zager, J.S. (eds) Cancer Metastasis Through the Lymphovascular System. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93084-4_1

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