The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to develop a comprehensive and cohesive understanding of cancer metastasis. Towards this goal, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will support several U54 Specialized Centers that together will form the Metastasis Research Network (MetNet). Each MetNet Center should propose an overarching scientific theme that will be pursued through two or three scientific inter- and multi-disciplinary basic research projects. The projects should use integrative approaches to elucidate and integrate a mechanistic understanding of the non-linear, dynamic, and emergent processes in metastasis. Overarching themes should encompass the interplay between at least two central elements in the metastatic process such as early dissemination, cellular and/or physical microenvironment crosstalk, dormancy, or mechanisms of responses by metastatic cells to therapies.
Research proposed by MetNet Centers is expected to advance our understanding towards a more comprehensive appreciation of metastasis as a whole body, systems-level problem.