How tumor cells create a metastatic niche – new work from the Oskarsson lab published in Nature Communications

Lung metastasis in a breast cancer patient: the arrows indicate fibroblasts (brown) that communicate with metastatic cancer cells. Cell nuclei are stained blue. © Oskarsson, DKFZ/HI-STEM
Lung metastasis in a breast cancer patient: the arrows indicate fibroblasts (brown) that communicate with metastatic cancer cells. Cell nuclei are stained blue. © Oskarsson, DKFZ/HI-STEM

In order to colonize other organs and grow into metastases, tumor cells that detach from the parent tumor need to manipulate their new microenvironment and create a 'metastatic niche'. Maren Pein and colleagues from the Oskarsson lab within HI-STEM and DKFZ have now discovered that disseminated breast cancer cells evoke phenotypic changes in lung fibroblasts to promote metastasis. This discovery, which is based on a collaboration with clinical partners at the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) and the University Hospital in Heidelberg, plays a key role in better understanding how these dangerous metastases arise.

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