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Fusion of tumour cells with bone marrow-derived cells: a unifying explanation for metastasis
John M Pawelek1, Ashok K Chakraborty
1Department of Dermatology and the Yale Cancer Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-08059, USA. john.pawelek@yale.edu
Abstract:
The causes of metastasis remain elusive despite vast information on cancer cells. We posit that cancer cell fusion with macrophages or other migratory bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) provides an explanation. BMDC-tumour hybrids have been detected in numerous animal models and recently in human cancer. Molecular studies indicate that gene expression in such hybrids reflects a metastatic phenotype. Should BMDC-tumour fusion be found to underlie invasion and metastasis in human cancer, new approaches for therapy would surely follow.
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