Research Perspective|Volume 2, Issue 10|pp 735—741

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition and senescence: two cancer-related processes are crossing paths

Marjon A. Smit¹, Daniel S. Peeper

¹Division of Molecular Genetics, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, 1066 CX Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Received: October 6, 2010Accepted: October 16, 2010Published: October 17, 2010

Copyright: © 2010 Smit et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition is involved in several physiological processes. However, it is also believed to contribute to cancer progression. Conversely, cellular senescence constitutes a failsafe program against cancer progression. Interestingly, EMT and senescence seem to cross paths, with several factors playing dominant roles in both settings. Here, we describe recent observations that link these important cellular processes.