title: Change is in the air: the hypoxic induction of phenotype switching in melanoma.
abstract: Melanoma cells can switch from a highly proliferative, less invasive state to a highly invasive, less proliferative state, a phenomenon termed phenotype switching. This results in a highly heterogenous tumor, where a slow-growing, aggressive population of cells may resist tumor therapy, and it predicts tumor recurrence. Here we discuss the observation made by Widmer et al. that hypoxia may drive phenotype switching.
authors.affiliation: Tumor Metastasis and Microenvironment Program, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: O'Connell
authors.affiliation: Tumor Metastasis and Microenvironment Program, The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Electronic address: aweeraratna@wistar.org.
authors.forename: Ashani T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Weeraratna
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000473:pathology*; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit / Q000378:metabolism*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C497442:HIF1A protein, human; D051795:Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit