The central role of EMT in tumor progression: mechanistic drivers, biomarker discovery, and therapeutic horizons
Sivakumar Arumugam
The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a central plasticity program in cancer. It enables carcinoma cells to acquire migratory, invasive, immunomodulatory, and therapy-resistant phenotypes. As a result, EMT is a key driver of metastatic progression and poor prognosis. This overview summarizes recent mechanistic innovations across EMT-inducing transcription factors (SNAIL, SLUG, TWIST, ZEB) and their interactions with major signaling cascades, including TGF-β/SMAD, Wnt/β-catenin, Notch, P