The rising evidence of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and its role in cancer have made this an area of increased research efforts. The focus is both on the primary tumor but also on the metastatic setting. The TME though, does not only consist of the non-malignant cells of a tumor, but also of the acellular compartment: The Extracellular Matrix (ECM). The liver is a common organ for metastasis of many cancers and for some of these cancers’ liver surgery is a standard treatment with long-term cure, whereas for other cancers not considered meaningful. Blood supply and anatomical reasons plays one part for the establishment of liver metastasis. It is however a well-known fact that the “soil” of a metastatic organ is of utter importance in the process of metastasis. The “soil” consists of the TME where the ECM is a critical and active part. This review focuses what is known about the normal ECM of the human liver, what is known about ECM proteins in human liver metastasis, challenges of studying the ECM in liver metastases and lastly, potential applications of this field of knowledge.

越来越多的关于肿瘤微环境 (TME) 及其在癌症中的作用的证据使这一领域成为了一个加大研究力度的领域。重点既是原发性肿瘤，也是转移性肿瘤。然而，TME 不仅包含肿瘤的非恶性细胞，还包含无细胞区室：细胞外基质 (ECM)。肝脏是许多癌症转移的常见器官，对于其中一些癌症，肝脏手术是一种长期治愈的标准治疗方法，而对于其他癌症则认为没有意义。血液供应和解剖学原因对肝转移的形成起着一定的作用。然而，众所周知的事实是，转移器官的“土壤”在转移过程中至关重要。“土壤”由 TME 组成，其中 ECM 是关键和活跃的部分。