title: The role played by the microenvironment in site-specific metastasis.
abstract: Cancer cells that disseminate to metastatic sites may progress to frank metastasis or persist as dormant micrometastasis. Significant progress has been made in defining the genetic and phenotypic cancer-cell-autonomous determinants of metastasis and in the understanding of the cross-talk between metastasizing tumor cells and the metastatic microenvironment. However several questions remain open, in particular the identity of microenvironmental factors that keep micrometastatic cells in a state of dormancy and those that promote survival, proliferation and progression of such cells. Significantly more information is available on the latter factors than on microenvironmental cells and molecules that restrain micrometastasis. This mini-review summarizes findings suggesting that: In view of the above, it is not unlikely that metastases residing in different microenvironments may require "individualized" treatment modalities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Research and Immunology, George S. Wise, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: Anat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klein-Goldberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Research and Immunology, George S. Wise, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel; Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, 21201 MD, USA.
authors.forename: Shelly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maman
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Research and Immunology, George S. Wise, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel; Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, 21201 MD, USA. Electronic address: isaacw@tauex.tau.ac.il.
authors.forename: Isaac P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Witz
mesh_terms: D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Dormancy; Metastasis; Microenvironment; Micrometastasis