The natural adaptive evolution of cancer: The metastatic ability of cancer cells.

Gheorghe-Emilian Olteanu,Virgil Paunescu,Florina Bojin,Oana Gavriliuc,Ioana-Maria Mihai

doi:10.17305/bjbms.2019.4565

Abstract

The ability of cancer to adapt renders it one of the most challenging pathologies of all time. It is the most dreaded pathological entity because of its capacity to metastasize to distant sites in the body, and 90% of all cancer-related deaths recorded to date are attributed to metastasis. Currently, three main theories have been proposed to explain the metastatic pathway of cancer: the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal–epithelial transition (MET) hypothesis (1), the cancer stem cell hypothesis (2), and the macrophage–cancer cell fusion hybrid hypothesis (3). We propose a new hypothesis, i.e., under the effect of particular biochemical and/or physical stressors, cancer cells can undergo nuclear expulsion with subsequent macrophage engulfment and fusion, with the formation of cancer fusion cells (CFCs). The existence of CFCs, if confirmed, would represent a novel metastatic pathway and a shift in the extant dogma of cancer; consequently, new treatment targets would be available for this adaptive pathology.

Highlights

From bacteria to multicellular and complex organisms, cancer can be viewed in many ways as a stand-alone entity that is adaptable and steadfast regarding survival, as observed for any living organism
The ability of a cancer cell to spread to distant sites remains the most important enigma in cancer research that needs to be completely investigated because metastasis causes more than 90% of all cancer-related deaths [12]
We hypothesized that under particular biochemical and psychical circumstances, cancer cell nuclear expulsion [30] coupled with macrophage fusion, which results in a fusion hybrid, is a possible mechanism of survival and metastasis capability of cancer cells

Summary

Introduction

From bacteria to multicellular and complex organisms, cancer can be viewed in many ways as a stand-alone entity that is adaptable and steadfast regarding survival, as observed for any living organism. The ability of a cancer cell to spread to distant sites remains the most important enigma in cancer research that needs to be completely investigated because metastasis causes more than 90% of all cancer-related deaths [12]. The discovery of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and their ability to seed distant metastasis has given rise to additional avenues of research [27,28,29] and potential treatment options.

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