Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Bone Metastases

Metastases—the spreading of cancer cells from primary tumors to distant organs, including bone—is often incurable and is the major cause of morbidity in breast cancer patients. Understanding how cancer cells acquire the ability to colonize to bone and become overt metastases is critical to identify new therapeutic targets and develop new therapies against bone metastases. Recent reports indicate the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and, as a consequence the unfolded protein response (UPR) is activated during metastatic dissemination. However, their roles in this process remain largely unknown. In this review, we discuss the recent progress on evaluating the tumorigenic, immunoregulatory and metastatic effects of ER stress and the UPR on bone metastases. We explore new opportunities to translate this knowledge into potential therapeutic strategies for patients with bone metastases.