Abstract
The concept of leukocyte-tumor cell fusion as a significant driver of cancer progression has been around a long time, and has garnered growing support over the last several years. The underlying idea seems quite simple and attractive: Fusion of tumor cells (with their inherent genetic instability) with leukocytes, particularly macrophages, could produce hybrids with high invasive capabilities, greatly facilitating their metastatic dissemination, while potentially accelerating tumor cell heterogeneity. While there are a number of attractive features with this story on the surface, the various studies seem to leave us with a conundrum, namely, what is the fate of such fusions?
Highlights
Introduction and DiscussionThe concept of leukocyte-tumor cell fusion as a significant driver of cancer progression has been around a long time, and has garnered growing support over the last several years, with numerous reports describing what appear to be hybrid cells
There are a considerable number of reports over the years describing leukocyte-tumor cell fusions (LTFs), most often macrophage-tumor cell fusions (MTFs), in human cancers [2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]
circulating tumor cells (CTCs), approximately 50% of captured CTCs showed dual-staining for leukocyte-tumor cell markers
Summary
The concept of leukocyte-tumor cell fusion as a significant driver of cancer progression has been around a long time, and has garnered growing support over the last several years, with numerous reports describing what appear to be hybrid cells. The underlying idea seems quite simple and attractive: Fusion of tumor cells (with their inherent genetic instability) with leukocytes, macrophages, could produce hybrids with high invasive capabilities, greatly facilitating their metastatic dissemination, while potentially accelerating tumor cell heterogeneity.
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