Immunosuppression via Tenascin-C

Abstract

Metastasis accounts for most of the prostate cancer-related deaths, and the presence of more than two metastatic lymph nodes at radical prostatectomy and extended pelvic lymph node (PLN) dissection is an independent predictor of prostate cancer specific mortality [1], thus suggesting that PLN invasion is an important event in the history of the disease. However, despite its clinical significance, little is known about the mechanisms favoring dissemination and survival of cancer cells at sites of future metastasis. This is particularly intriguing for cancer cells invading lymph nodes, where both innate and adaptive immunity should rapidly recognize and eliminate disseminated cells. Another biological conundrum is when in the history of prostate cancer, a neoplastic cell detaches fro