APOPTOSIS AND METASTASIS - A SUPERIOR RESISTANCE OF METASTATIC CANCER-CELLS TO PROGRAMMED CELL-DEATH

We studied the response to different external signals leading to apopt osis of several poorly and highly metastatic cell lines employing a mu rine B16 melanoma experimental metastasis model. We found that highly metastatic cells exhibit a superior survival ability and resistance to apoptosis compared to poorly metastatic cells which would give the fo rmer an obvious selective growth advantage during tumor progression. O ur results indicate that there is a genetic link between aggressive me tastatic phenotype and resistance to apoptosis.