CHEMOKINES AND THEIR ROLE IN TUMOR-GROWTH AND METASTASIS

Chemokines are a superfamily of pro-inflammatory polypeptide cytokines that selectively attract and activate different cell types. Many path o-physiological conditions require the participation of chemokines, in cluding inflammation, infection, tissue injury, allergy, cardiovascula r diseases, as well as malignant tumors. Chemokines activate cells thr ough their binding to shared or unique cell surface receptors which be long to the seven-transmembrane, G-protein-coupled Rhodopsin superfami ly. The role of chemokines in malignant tumors is complex: while some chemokines may enhance innate or specific host immunity against tumor implantation, others may favor tumor growth and metastasis by promotin g tumor cell proliferation, migration or neovascularization in tumor t issue. In this review, the authors summarize some of the recent advanc es in chemokine research and emphasis is made on the effect of chemoki nes in tumor growth and metastasis. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.