How colorectal cancer liver metastases, a large colon cancer metastasis is a complex combination of a series of multi-stage process. First, cancer cell adhesion molecule because of its defect or malfunction detached from the primary lesion, and extracellular matrix by enzymes (such as matrix metalloproteinase, etc.) degradation, breaking the barrier into the extracellular matrix of blood vessels, in blood cycle, only a small amount of cancer cells to escape immune defense mechanism, out of the blood vessels, adhesion to the transfer of organs. How colorectal cancer liver metastases, but in a few out of the cancer cells, and only a tiny fraction of its organs can be formed micrometastases. Second, the tumor development and metastasis must be dependent on angiogenesis, so that the proliferation of micrometastases in the process of access to adequate supply of nutrients, but also by a variety of angiogenesis-related genes and the regulation of cytokines, it is ultimately Only a few micro-metastases can be seen in the formation of clinical metastases.
How colorectal liver metastases? Colorectal cancer is known other than the abdominal digestive organs prone to liver cancer, mainly related to its biological characteristics of cancer cells. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a colon cancer cell membrane glycoproteins secreted, it has the function of promoting colorectal cancer liver metastases. First of all, and between cancer cells and extracellular matrix interference between the binding site of the CEA asked the adhesion of cancer cells, making cancer cells easy to fall off. Recent studies have found that CEA as an adhesion molecule, also has the same kind of aggregation of colorectal cancer cells formed tumor thrombus, tumor thrombus was not only increase the chance of capturing the target organ capillaries, and increased immune activity against cancer cells in their killing capability.