Anoikis and anti-cancer effects of Chinese herbs

Anoikis is a form of apoptosis induced by detachment of adherent cells from the extracellular matrix or inappropriate cell-matrix interactions.Resistance to anoikis is a hallmark of metastatic cancer cells which leads to cancer cells evading anoikis and thereby survives after detachment from their primary site,and metastasizing to distant organs.Both death receptor-mediated extrinsic pathway and mitochondrial-mediated intrinsic pathway contribute to anoikis.Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)/Akt signal pathway and mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) signal are major regulator of anoikis.In addition,oncogene TrkB and tumor suppressor gene PTEN may also contribute to anoikis regulation.Some studies suggested some anti-cancer Chinese herbs or components may inhibit anchoring-independent cancer cell growth and induces anoikis.