Most cancer cells growing within a tumor stick to it for as long as they live. A few, however, may change their fate—migrating to distant sites and colonizing other organs, a process known as metastasis. As the majority of cancer-related deaths are associated with metastasis, there is a need to understand how and why cells within a tumor embark on that journey.
A study published on March 8 in Cell Reports suggests that a near-death experience may induce cancer cells to initiate metastasis. Based on a series of experiments using human colon cancer cells, a team at the University in Geneva in Switzerland reports that stressed cells show a molecular signature associated with metastatic potential. Cells exhibiting this so-called prometastatic state also show enhanced motility and prompt neighboring tumor cells to migrate.
In order to understand how metastatic cells arise, Ariel Ruiz i Altaba and his colleagues first aimed to ...
