Adrenomedullin 2 drives intratumoral cancer cell invasion, intravasation and metastasis

Cancer cell intravasation requires both directed invasion toward the vasculature and access to functional blood vessels that act as intravasation sites. Using intravital video microscopy, we identified the peptide hormone adrenomedullin 2 (ADM2) as a critical regulator of this process. ADM2 was selectively upregulated in a highly invasive subpopulation of cancer cells that localize near blood vessels and actively drive intravasation. Knockdown of ADM2 significantly impaired intratumoral cancer cell invasion and intravasation in a chicken embryo metastasis model and in vitro. ADM2-deficient tumors exhibited reduced vascularization, limiting the availability of competent intravasation sites. Moreover, loss of ADM2 suppressed the formation of invasive metastatic lesions, indicating a requirement for ADM2 at multiple stages of the metastatic cascade. Consistently, targeting ADM2 in a mouse metastasis model inhibited the development of large intratumoral blood vessels and reduced metastasis. Collectively, these findings establish ADM2 as a previously unrecognized regulator of tumor-vascular interactions and highlight its potential as a therapeutic target to simultaneously disrupt invasion, vascular support, and metastatic dissemination.