Hepatocyte Growth Factor and Its Receptor Signalling Complex as Targets in Cancer Therapy

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and it's receptor, cMET, have become the focus on intense scrutiny since its discovery in the late 1980s [1, 2] as regards it role in cancer. HGF is now known to be a potent morphogen that can regulate tissue and organ regeneration and modulate cell morphology, it is a motogen that can stimulate cell motility and migration, and is a mitogen able to regulate cell growth and death and as an angiogenic factor [3]. HGF is can induce both angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis [3a; 4]. That HGF and cMET have such a diversity of functions has led to intense interest in the clinical setting due to their potential in their prognostic aspect and therapeutic implications as imaging tools. This issue will focus on recent work that shows strong indications for the value of HGF and cMET in clinical settings.