Cancer cell identity and plasticity are required in transition states, such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), in primary tumor initiation, progression and metastasis. The functional roles of EMT, MET and partial state (referred to as p-EMT) may vary based upon the type of tumor, state of dissemination and degree of metastatic colonization. Herein, we review EMT, MET, pEMT and plasticity in the context of tumor metastasis.

These preclinical results indicate that targeted inhibition of IL-6 may enhance the efficacy of anti-PD-L1 in PDAC.

Findings over the past decade have identified aberrant activation of the ETS transcription factor family throughout all stages of tumorigenesis. Specifically in solid tumours, gene rearrangement and amplification, feed-forward growth factor signalling loops, formation of gain-of-function co-regulatory complexes and novel cis-acting mutations in ETS target gene promoters can result in increased ETS activity. In turn, pro-oncogenic ETS signalling enhances tumorigenesis through a broad mechanistic toolbox that includes lineage specification and self-renewal, DNA damage and genome instability, epigenetics and metabolism. This Review discusses these different mechanisms of ETS activation and subsequent oncogenic implications, as well as the clinical utility of ETS factors.

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The regulation of metastatic organotropism in pancreatic ductal a denocarcinoma (PDAC) remains poorly understood. We demonstrate, using multiple mouse models, that liver and lung metastatic organotropism is dependent upon p120catenin (p120ctn)-mediated epithelial identity. Mono-allelic p120ctn loss accelerates Kras-driven pancreatic cancer formation and liver metastasis. Importantly, one p120ctn allele is sufficient for E-CADHERIN-mediated cell adhesion. By contrast, cells with bi-allelic p120ctn loss demonstrate marked lung organotropism; however, rescue with p120ctn isoform 1A restores liver metastasis. In a p120ctn-independent PDAC model, mosaic loss of E-CADHERIN expression reveals selective pressure for E-CADHERIN-positive liver metastasis and E-CADHERIN-negative lung metastasis. Furthermore, human PDAC and liver metastases support the premise that liver metastases exhibit predominantly epithelial characteristics. RNA-seq demonstrates differential induction of pathways associated with metastasis and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in p120ctn-deficient versus p120ctn-wild-type cells. Taken together, P120CTN and E-CADHERIN mediated epithelial plasticity is an addition to the conceptual framework underlying metastatic organotropism in pancreatic cancer.