PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Christophe Guignabert
AU  - Ly Tu
AU  - Morane Le Hiress
AU  - Nicolas Ricard
AU  - Caroline Sattler
AU  - Andrei Seferian
AU  - Alice Huertas
AU  - Marc Humbert
AU  - David Montani
TI  - Pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension: lessons from cancer
AID  - 10.1183/09059180.00007513
DP  - 2013 Dec 01
TA  - European Respiratory Review
PG  - 543--551
VI  - 22
IP  - 130
4099  - http://err.ersjournals.com/content/22/130/543.short
4100  - http://err.ersjournals.com/content/22/130/543.full
SO  - EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY REVIEW2013 Dec 01; 22
AB  - Although the causal pathomechanisms contributing to remodelling of the pulmonary vascular bed in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are still unclear, several analogous features with carcinogenesis have led to the emergence of the cancer-like concept. The major similarities concern the altered crosstalk between cells from different tissue types, unexplained proliferation and survival of pulmonary smooth muscle and endothelial cells, the metabolic (glycolytic) shifts, and the association with the immune system. However, major differences between PAH and cancer exist, including the absence of invasion and metastasis, as well as the pathogenic genes involved and the degrees of angiogenesis impairment and genetic instability. It is clear that PAH is not a cancer, but this cancer-like concept has opened a new field of investigation and raises the possibility that antiproliferative and/or oncological drugs may exert therapeutic effects not only in cancer, but also in PAH. Such analogies and differences are discussed here.