Alcohol-related diseases and liver metastasis: Role of cell-free network communication

Abstract

Alcohol intake is a risk factor for cancer development and metastatic disease progression. Extracellular vesicle (EV)-mediated interorgan communication is assumed to be significant in boosting tumorigenic pathways and disease progression. Recent research indicates that exosomes have a variety of roles in the development of cancer during pathophysiological conditions. The involvement of EV signaling during cancer progression in the alcohol environment is unknown. Therefore, understanding communication networks and the role of EVs as biomarkers can contribute significantly to developing strategies to address the serious public health problems associated with alcohol consumption and cancer.

Keywords: Exosomes; Liver metastasis; Alcohol-associated liver disease; Cancer

Core Tip: In this letter to the editor, we discussed the reality that alcohol consumption is a risk factor that acts by itself to favor the appearance of the carcinogenic process and its harmful evolution towards metastatic pathology. One of the hypotheses that have been suggested as important in metastasis and communication between cells and/or organs is the traffic of extracellular vesicles/exosomes that can play or promote tumorigenesis locally and even at a distance from the primary tumor. Unraveling these communication mechanisms and therapeutic possibilities may lead to new ways to combat cancer’s worsening, as metastasis, in the future.