Regulation of tumor initiation and metastatic progression by Eph receptor tyrosine kinases.

In recent years, a growing body of evidence has indicated that signaling molecules previously implicated in axon guidance are important regulators of multistep tumorigenesis and progression. Eph receptors and ephrins belong to this special class of molecules that play important roles in both axon guidance and cancer. Tremendous progress has been made in the past few years in both understanding the role of Eph receptors and ephrins in cancer and designing therapeutic strategies for cancer therapy. This review will focus on new advances in elucidating the contribution of Eph/ephrin molecules to key processes in tumor initiation and metastatic progression, including cancer cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis, and tumor angiogenesis.