Cancer poses a major threat to human health and is one of the
leading causes of death worldwide. Today, we know that metastasis,
a multistep process whereby tumour cells spread from the site of
origin to distant organs, is responsible for most cancer mortality.
In fact, more than 90% of cancer-related deaths are attributed to
tumour metastasis. Unfortunately, there are no therapies currently
available to specifically target metastasis of any human cancer
types, and patients with distant metastases ultimately die from
their disease. Current conventional treatment modalities are
focused on the removal of tumours by surgical resection and/or the
killing of malignant cells using cytotoxic chemotherapeutic drugs
or ionizing radiation, with no substantial inhibitory effects on
the migratory and invasive abilities of cancer cells. Moreover,
emerging evidence has shown that these standard treatment modes can
unexpectedly increase the motility and invasiveness of surviving
tumour cells, inducing or accelerating metastases formation and
aggravating malignant progression. This paradoxical phenomenon can
help us to understand why, despite the technological advancements
in surgical procedures and drug delivery methods, the overall
survival rate of numerous cancer types has barely changed over the
past several decades, remaining unacceptably poor. Due to the
insufficiency of existing therapies in improving the prognosis of
cancer patients, new effective treatment options are urgently
needed. To this end, the focus must be moved from a simply
cytotoxic approach to s metastasis-preventing strategy,
substituting the question of why cancer forms and how to kill it
for the question of why tumours spread and how to prevent
metastasis. In this book, a conceptually new approach to cancer
management is presented, by focusing not on the killing of
transformed neoplastic cells, but blocking the spread of tumour
cells to distant organs, thereby restricting malignant progression
and targeting the main cause of cancer-related mortality.
Plant-derived flavonoids might be ideal candidates for novel
antimetastatic agents, as they are non-toxic and possess the
capacity to inhibit multiple steps of metastatic cascade. These
polyphenolic phytochemicals act through regulating a number of
metastasis-associated signalling cascades in different tumour
cells, and also modulate diverse components of tumour
microenvironments and attenuate the formation of tumour-specific
angiogenesis. Moreover, the combination of certain flavonoids with
surgical resection, chemotherapy or radiotherapy may result in the
abolishment of the metastasis-promoting effects of these
conventional therapeutic modalities, providing novel treatment
options for combating cancer in the future. It is expected that the
development of flavonoids for antimetastatic drugs and their
inclusion in further cancer treatment strategies can substantially
improve the prognosis of patients with various types of
malignancies in a time when cancer incidence is predicted to
continuously increase throughout the world. This book should be
read by anyone who is interested in innovative advances in cancer
care. Due to its systemic approach to cellular and molecular
processes of metastatic cascade, this book might serve as a useful
contemporary textbook for medical colleges and universities for
studies of cancer development, progression and dissemination.
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