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Updated: Oct 23, 2025

An In Vitro System to Study Tumor Dormancy and the Switch to Metastatic Growth
Published on: August 11, 2011
Translating the Science of Cancer Dormancy to the Clinic
Julio A Aguirre-Ghiso1,2,3,4,5
1Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York. julio.aguirre-ghiso@mssm.edu.
Abstract:
The paradigm of metastasis has been significantly remodeled by the incorporation of cancer dormancy as a mechanism to explain long-term remission intervals followed by relapse. There is overall consensus on the potential impact of better understanding dormancy. Key cancer-cell autonomous and microenvironmental mechanisms might explain this biology and, in turn, the timing of metastasis. However, the approach and feasibility to apply this biology to clinical trials has been controversial. The discussion here provides insight into how these controversies are being resolved by the development of active clinical trials, thus bringing to reality opportunities to target cancer dormancy.
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