Cancer Cells and Metastasis

Metastasis — the spread of cancer cells from a primary tumor to distant organs — accounts for the vast majority of cancer-related deaths, yet the biological steps that make it possible are still incompletely understood. A leading hypothesis centers on cancer stem cells, a subpopulation of tumorigenic cells capable of self-renewal and of seeding new tumors, whose behavior is shaped by surrounding tissue signals collectively called the tumor microenvironment. A key process under investigation is epithelial-mesenchymal transition, in which cancer cells acquire migratory properties that allow them to invade new tissues and, troublingly, evade standard therapies. Researchers are now working to clarify how metastatic colonization is established in distant organs and how the plasticity of cancer stem cells might be targeted to overcome drug resistance — questions that organoid models and detailed microenvironment studies are beginning to address.

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Keywords

Cancer Stem CellsTumor MetastasisEpithelial-Mesenchymal TransitionStem Cell NichesTumorigenic CellsMetastatic Colonization