Dynamic imaging has greatly enhanced our mechanistic insight into cancer progression and metastasis as well as the host response to the lesion. Addressing cancer dynamics in the context of the tumor microenvironment, 3D tissue culture and intravital microscopy now show not only how cytoskeletal, adhesion and protease systems drive invasion and metastasis; they also reveal unexpected cancer plasticity in response to different environments and molecular interference. Centered around real-time imaging, this session will highlight cancer and immune cell migration by adhesion-dependent and -independent strategies; collective cancer invasion in the absence of EMT via cooption of blood vessels; high-efficiency intravasation and metastatic dissemination regulated by tetraspanins; and where and how cytotoxic immune defense kills cancer cells - or not. Such kinetic in vivo imaging not only provides fascinating insight into complex cancer biology but will advance preclinical validation of drugs and the identification of resistance mechanisms.
Symposium: Imaging Cancer Invasion: Metastasis and Resistance

3-D tissue invasion: Lessons from leukocytes; Michael Sixt. Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany

Collective invasion and resistance niches; Peter Friedl. Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, HB Nijmegen, Netherlands

Intravasation and metastatic seeding; James P. Quigley. The Scripps Research Inst., La Jolla, CA

Real-time imaging of intratumoral cytotoxic immune responses; Philippe Bousso. Institut Pasteur, Paris, France,