Metastatic Esophageal Carcinoma Cells Exhibit Reduced Adhesion Strength and Enhanced Thermogenesis

Despite continuous improvements in multimodal therapeutic strategies, esophageal carcinoma maintains a high mortality rate. Metastases are a major life-limiting component; however, very little is known about why some tumors have high metastatic potential and others not. In this study, we investigated thermogenic activity and adhesion strength of primary tumor cells and corresponding metastatic cell lines derived from two patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. We hypothesized that the increased metastatic potential of the metastatic cell lines correlates with higher thermogenic activity and decreased adhesion strength. Our data show that patient-derived metastatic esophageal tumor cells have a higher thermogenic profile as well as a decreased adhesion strength compared to their corresponding primary tumor cells. Using two paired esophageal carcinoma cell lines of primary tumor and lymph nodes makes the data unique. Both higher specific thermogenesis profile and decreased adhesion strength are associated with a higher metastatic potential. They are in congruence with the clinical patient presentation. Understanding these functional, biophysical properties of patient derived esophageal carcinoma cell lines will enable us to gain further insight into the mechanisms of metastatic potential of primary tumors and metastases. Microcalorimetric evaluation will furthermore allow for rapid assessment of new treatment options for primary tumor and metastases aimed at decreasing the metastatic potential.