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Updated: Jun 9, 2026

A Preclinical Mouse Model of Osteosarcoma to Define the Extracellular Vesicle-mediated Communication Between Tumor and Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Published on: May 6, 2018
[Tumour stem cells and metastasis]
U F Wellner1, U T Hopt, T Brabletz
1Universitätsklinikum der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Chirurgische Klinik, Abteilung Allgemein- und Viszeralchirurgie, Freiburg, Deutschland. ulrich.wellner@uniklinikfreiburg.de
Abstract:
The underlying mechanisms of cancer development, invasion and metastasis are still only partly unraveled. Cancer stem cells (CSC) and the so-called epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) seem to contribute to these oncological phenomena. Cancer stem cells which, according to our present knowledge, play an important role in tumour development and persistence, are operationally defined. The embryonic programme of EMT is activated aberrantly in cancer cells at the invasive front and seems to contribute to tumour invasion and metastasis. Recent observations suggest that the EMT and CSC traits are closely related. This provides new explanatory models for cancer development and metastasis.
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