Metastasis is characterized by the ability of cancer cells to invade into adjacent tissue, intravasate into blood or lymphatic vessels, and extravasate into a distant tissue. Metastatic disease is primarily responsible for the low 5-year survival rate of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and therefore, an understanding of the molecular mechanisms that regulate NSCLC metastasis is clearly warranted. The serine/threonine kinase and tumor suppressor LKB1 is mutated in 30% of NSCLC tumors, and recent evidence points to a prominent role in NSCLC metastasis.
