Anoikis Resistance (AR)

Anoikis resistance (AR) is the acquired ability of a cell — most often a cancer cell — to survive detachment from the extracellular matrix (ECM) that would normally trigger anoikis. A 2026 review by Koltai and Fliegel argues that AR is not an incidental side effect of cancer but an obligatory step in metastasis: “there is no metastasis without anoikis resistance.”

Cancer cells achieve AR through a network of overlapping mechanisms rather than a single pathway: integrin switching, survival-pathway hijacking (FAK-SRC, EGFR-Ras, PI3K-Akt), metabolic reprogramming, protective autophagy, cytoskeletal reorganization, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).