MMPs in invasion and metastasis, and their use as targets for anti-cancer therapy

Abstract

Metastasis is the most frequent cause of death in cancer patients and is therefore important to target therapeutically. To prevent metastasis it is useful to target invasion. It has been suggested that inhibition of MMPs (matrix metalloproteases) is an effective way to target invasion, since MMPs have many functions in invasion. However, so far MMPIs have failed in clinical trials. The main reason for this failure is unspecific inhibition of MMPs. To be able to create more specific MMP inhibitors, MMP biology in cell migration and invasion should be investigated in vivo.