CD44/CD44v6 a Reliable Companion in Cancer-Initiating Cell Maintenance and Tumor Progression.

ABSTRACT: Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer death, tumor progression proceeding through emigration from the primary tumor, gaining access to the circulation, leaving the circulation, settling in distant organs and growing in the foreign environment. The capacity of a tumor to metastasize relies on a small subpopulation of cells in the primary tumor, so called cancer-initiating cells (CIC). CIC are characterized by sets of markers, mostly membrane anchored adhesion molecules, CD44v6 being the most frequently recovered marker. Knockdown and knockout models accompanied by loss of tumor progression despite unaltered primary tumor growth unraveled that these markers are indispensable for CIC. The unexpected contribution of marker molecules to CIC-related activities prompted research on underlying

SUBMITTER: Wang Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6122270 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature