Issues

Prevention of mortality stemming from the formation of metastatic lesions is a key goal of medical oncology, but few models exist that allow for effective screening of novel compounds that target the dissemination of cancer cells. The cover depicts a novel transgenic zebrafish model intended to address this shortcoming: by crossing tamoxifen-inducible Twist1a-ERT2 transgenic zebrafish with a second line overexpressing a homolog of activated EGFR, Nakayama and colleagues tracked the rate of hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis through the abdomen and tail (green, vasculature; red, metastases). Using this platform, the authors identified hydroxysteroid 11-β dehydrogenase 1 (HSD11β1) as a key regulator of initial metastatic dissemination and proposed pharmacologic means of inhibiting the process. For more information, see the Highlight on page 341 and the article on page 477.