Expression of MET was analyzed in hormone-naive primary prostate cancers (N=481), lymph node (N=40) and bone (N=8) metastases, as well as HRPC (N=54) and bone metastases (N=15).
Point mutations in MET lead to the aberrant activation of the receptor in many types of human malignancies, and the deregulated activity of MET has been correlated with tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis.
MET gene amplification and protein over-expression are closely related to the invasion and metastasis, late stage and poor prognosis of gastric cancer.
Recent work indicates that activation of the MET oncogene, which drives invasion and metastasis in cancer, can promote a cancer-associated thrombohemorrhagic syndrome that is mediated by transcriptional up-regulation of the procoagulation factors plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 and cyclooxygenase-2.
It is known that tyrosine phosphorylated proteins are involved in progression and metastasis of colorectal cancer; however, little is known about the MET phospho-proteome in CRC.
c-MET expression was significantly higher at the invasive front of metastases compared with central tumour areas (P = 0.020) and was associated with nuclear pSTAT3 expression (P = 0.042). pSTAT3 but not c-MET overexpression in PM was associated with time to tumour recurrence after metastasectomy (P = 0.036).
Furthermore, reduced methylation of specific LINE-1 elements within the MET gene inversely correlated with induction of MET expression in CRC metastases (R=-0.44; p<0.0001).
Univariate analysis revealed that pleural invasion, lymph node metastasis, lymphatic and venous invasion, tumor-node-metastasis stage, c-MET protein overexpression, and c-MET gene amplification were associated with poor prognosis (P = .041, P < .001, P = .001, P < .001, P = .001 and P = .001, respectively), but only c-MET gene amplification was an independent prognostic marker (P = .04).
The presence of c-MET mRNA was correlated with T stage (P = 0.025), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.036), distant metastasis (P = 0.031), and stage of the stomach cancer (P = 0.023).
Real-time quantitative RT-PCR was used to measure MET gene-specific mRNA in normal tissues, primary tumors and lymphatic metastases and showed a 2-8-fold increased expression in tumor cells which metastasize.
Metastasis-associated in colon cancer-1 (MACC1) is a newly identified gene that plays a role in colon cancer metastasis through upregulation of c-MET proto-oncogene (c-MET).
Here, we demonstrate that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) directly and negatively regulates tumor cell invasion through enhanced recruitment of the protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) to a MET/VEGFR2 heterocomplex, thereby suppressing HGF-dependent MET phosphorylation and tumor cell migration.
The results from these newly developed mouse models indicate a role for MET in hastening tumorigenesis and metastasis when combined with the loss of tumor suppressors.
The MET receptor and its ligand HGF (hepatocyte growth factor) play important roles in cell growth, survival and migration, and dysregulation of the HGF-MET pathway leads to oncogenic changes including tumor proliferation, angiogenesis and metastasis.
The oncogene MET into exosomes was identified from icotinib-resistant lung cancer cells, and this was also presented in exosomes in NSCLC patients diagnosed with cancer metastasis after icotinib treatment.
Although MET activation has primarily been linked with tumor cell migration and invasiveness, the amplified wild-type MET in these cells is constitutively activated, and its continued signaling is required for cell survival.
MET overexpression was significantly associated with locoregional failure (P = 0.009), distant metastasis (P = 0.006) and death (P < 0.001); MET amplification was significantly associated with death (P = 0.021).
In conclusion, our study provided a miRNA-gene regulatory network in lung cancer metastasis and further demonstrated the roles of miR-206 and MET in this process, which enhances the understanding of the regulatory mechanism in lung cancer metastasis.
We assessed the effect of human HGF/SF on the dissemination of the B-lymphoma cells and found that administration of 5 microg HGF/SF to mice, injected (i.v.) with c-MET-positive lymphoma cells, significantly (P = 0.018) increased the number of metastases in lung, liver and lymph nodes.