title: Metastatic potential: generic predisposition of the primary tumor or rare, metastatic variants-or both?
abstract: Metastasis is a rare event. Does it arise from rare, variant, highly metastatic cells or does a primary tumor progress to a premalignant state from which metastases arise stochastically without further changes in gene expression? Arguments and evidence have been adduced to support either position. A paper in this month's Cancer Cell and other arguments instead suggest models combining features of both.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Center for Cancer Research, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. rohynes@mit.edu
authors.forename: Richard O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Hynes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000235:genetics*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor