Cancer Metastasis Research Center
Director: Isaiah J. Fidler, D.V.M., Ph.D. 
Cancer Metastasis Research Center is the nation’s leading research program focusing on developing new strategies for dealing with cancer metastasis.
Metastasis, not the primary tumor, is the leading cause of cancer deaths.
The nation's leading research program on cancer metastasis has been located at M. D. Anderson for 20 years. Currently, more than 100 scientists are at work on the metastasis problem.
Recent Advances
We now have a better understanding of how tumor cells stimulate angiogenesis—the creation of a sustaining blood supply—and how normal cells near the tumor actually feed the cancer and stimulate its growth. Teams led by Dr. Fidler and Christopher J. Logothetis, M.D., chair, Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, have developed novel ways to destroy the nutrient supply for cancer cells. These discoveries have already been translated from the laboratory into patient clinical trials at M. D. Anderson.
Promising Investigations
Interferon-α Gene Therapy for Primary Cancers and Metastases
We are seeking to improve the prospects for IFN-a gene therapy of primary cancers and metastases by investigating the direct injection of viral vectors containing the IFN-a gene into primary prostate and ovarian neoplasms.
Organ-Specific Metastasis—The Role of Protein Tyrosine Kinase Receptors
The knowledge gained from this research should extend our understanding of host-tumor interactions and provide a basis for interfering with metastases produced by colon, bladder and prostate carcinomas by downregulating PTK receptor number and function.
Molecular Diagnosis—Predicting Metastatic Potential
Since each of the tumor cell properties associated with metastasis is regulated by specific genes, the pattern of expression of such genes can help predict the metastatic potential of the tumor cells in a primary tumor. In 1993, we developed a rapid technique for detecting the activity of genes involved in different steps of cancer metastasis: cell detachment, motility, invasion, adhesion, growth and vascularization or angiogenesis. This technique may be useful to predict metastasis in tissue samples of colon, pancreatic and gastric cancers, and are extending the research to melanoma, ovarian and prostate cancers. In principle, this approach will be applicable to all solid tumors.
Bringing Everyone Together
The Cancer Metastasis Research Center increases its effectiveness by physically and intellectually bringing together scientists and clinicians from many disciplines and departments, including gastrointestinal oncology, urology, gynecologic oncology, melanoma and skin cancer, thoracic and head and neck medical oncology, radiation oncology and biology, pathology and laboratory medicine and molecular therapeutics.
2008 Update
For 40 years, Dr. Isaiah Fidler, director of the Cancer Metastasis Research Center, has led the field in metastasis research, making breakthrough discoveries in how and why cancer spreads from one part of the body to another. Now Dr. Fidler is focusing his personal research on brain metastasis, “an unbelievable burden to the world and a tough topic.” Every year there are about 165,000 cases of brain metastasis. The survival rate for these patients is generally months, not years, but only a few labs in the country study brain metastasis.