Thomas R. Cox, May 2012

My short review titled “The pre-metastatic niche: is metastasis random?” has just been published in the Nature series BoneKEy Reports.

Image: BoneKEy Reports; The pre-metastatic niche and disease progression

In this short review we discuss the importance of the pre-metastatic niche in facilitating metastatic organ specificity and the implications behind this seemingly sinister series of events. How tumour cells are able to colonise often physiologically distinct and hostile secondary environments remains an important question in metastasis research. The concept of the pre-metastatic niche was first introduced in 2005 and states that secondary organs can be primed and ‘ made ready ’ for future metastatic growth in advance of the arrival of tumour cells. This review touches on how these niches form, their importance in cancer metastasis and the potential for targeting them as a therapeutic approach.

Links

View article on BoneKEy Reports homepage

Citation

Cox TR, Gartland A and Erler JT. The pre-metastatic niche: is metastasis random?
BoneKEy Reports 1, 80 (2012) | doi:10.1038/bonekey.2012.80