Although ninety percent of fatal cancer cases involve the spread of a primary tumor, the formation of metastases is still a poorly understood, complex process and a significant problem in the treatment of cancer patients. In Metastasis Research Protocols, leading international investigators describe in detail the key methods needed to investigate why and how metastasis occurs. Volume II of this two-volume set, Analysis of Cell Behavior In Vitro and In Vivo, presents a comprehensive collection of established and leading-edge techniques for examining metastatic behavior in vitro and in whole animal models. Methods are provided for the separation of cell lines with high and low metastatic potential, along with assay systems to test defined aspects of the metastatic cascade. These systems include cell migration assays, assays for matrix degradation enzymes, basement membrane degradation assays, adhesion assays, and assays of angiogenesis. The detailed descriptions of animal models for metastasis cover the use of immunodeficient animals, syngenic and transgenic models, and orthotopic models of metastasis. The first volume of this set, Analysis of Cells and Tissues, focuses on the analysis and mapping of molecules produced by cells and tissues, and on the molecular biology underlying their expression.
Comprehensive and authoritative, the two volumes of Metastasis Research Protocols constitute a gold-standard collection of readily reproducible methods for understanding the metastatic cascade-first at the cellular and molecular levels, then at the level of the whole organism-responsible for the spread of cancer and for developing novel strategies to combat its spread.