Cross-talk between tumors at anatomically distinct sites

Abstract

Cancer tissue is not homogenous, and individual metastases at different anatomical locations can differ from the primary tumor and from one another in both their morphology and cellular composition, even within an individual patient. Tumors are composed of cancer cells and a range of other cell types, which, together with a variety of secreted molecules, collectively comprise the tumor microenvironment. Cells of the tumor microenvironment can communicate with each other and with distant tissues in a form of molecular cross-talk to influence their growth and function. Cross-talk between cancer cells and local immune cells is well described, and can lead to the induction of local immunosuppres..