Tumor Dormancy: Implications for Invasion and Metastasis
Oncology Unit, Third Department of Medicine, Sotiria General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Cristina Peña
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(9), 4862; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22094862
Received: 30 March 2021
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Revised: 25 April 2021
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Accepted: 28 April 2021
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Published: 4 May 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Causalities and Regulations of Tumor Metastasis — in Memory of Professor Isaiah J. Fidler (1936–2020))
Tumor dormancy refers to a critical stage of cancer development when tumor cells are present, but cancer does not progress. It includes both the concept of cellular dormancy, indicating the reversible switch of a cancer cell to a quiescent state, and that of tumor mass dormancy, indicating the presence of neoplastic masses that have reached cell population equilibrium via balanced growth/apoptosis rates. Tumor dormancy provides the conceptual framework, potentially explaining a major challenge in clinical oncology, tumor recurrence, which may occur years after cancer diagnosis. The mechanisms by which tumors are kept dormant, and what triggers their reawakening, are fundamental questions in cancer biology. It seems that a plethora of intracellular pathways and extracellular factors are involved in this process, rewiring the cells to plastically alter their metabolic and proliferative status. This phenomenon is highly dynamic in space and time. Mechanistic insights into both cellular and tumor dormancy have provided the rationale for targeting this otherwise stable period of cancer development, in order to prevent recurrence and maximize therapeutic benefit.
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Keywords:
tumor dormancy; cellular dormancy; tumor recurrence; metastasis
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MDPI and ACS Style
Gomatou, G.; Syrigos, N.; Vathiotis, I.A.; Kotteas, E.A. Tumor Dormancy: Implications for Invasion and Metastasis. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22, 4862. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22094862
AMA Style
Gomatou G, Syrigos N, Vathiotis IA, Kotteas EA. Tumor Dormancy: Implications for Invasion and Metastasis. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021; 22(9):4862. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22094862
Chicago/Turabian StyleGomatou, Georgia, Nikolaos Syrigos, Ioannis A. Vathiotis, and Elias A. Kotteas. 2021. "Tumor Dormancy: Implications for Invasion and Metastasis" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22, no. 9: 4862. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22094862
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