Extracellular Matrix in Tumor Biology

This volume provides an overview on the influence of Extracellular Matrix (ECM) on tumor progression. It covers topics such as signaling induced by structural ECM proteins including collagen and fibronectin, the control of ECM deposition and the turnover in tumors. Also discussed are the migration of cells through basement membranes and the function of proteoglycans including lumican and veriscan in tumor progression. Biomaterial-based in-vitro models as well as C. elegans models of the tumor microenvironment are used to show how these models can lead to a greater understanding of the disease mechanisms that promote cancer progression. The book addresses researchers working on cancer biology or ECM, and oncologists alike.

?Rolf Brekken is Professor of Surgery and Pharmacology and Deputy Director of the Hamon Center Therapeutic Oncology Research at UT Southwestern. Dr. Brekken’s laboratory studies ECM signaling in tumors, therapeutic immune reactivation and how immune cells contribute to the metastatic cascade. He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and is currently a senior editor at Cancer Research.

Dwayne Stu

pack is an associate professor of Reproductive Medicine and Pathology at the University of California San Diego, Moore’s Cancer Center. Dr. Stupack’s laboratory work has been focused on the intersection of extracellular matrix signaling, the presentation of different forms of the same matrix to cells, and cell survival during tumor metastasis. A past councilor of the American Society for Matrix Biology with more than 90 publications, Dr. Stupack currently edits the Society’s Matrix Letter.