Department of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine and Cancer Center, New Haven, CT, USA.
J Pathol. 2011 Jan;223(2):195-204. doi: 10.1002/path.2801. Epub 2010 Oct 29.
Cancer metastasis is often considered an orderly sequence of events leading to the colonization of distal organs by malignant cells. In fact, the evolution of metastatic disease is a dynamic process that is influenced by unique cellular lineages, altered microenvironments, distinct anatomical restrictions and multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations. These factors all contribute to variable clinical courses, likely requiring tailored therapy. As we inch closer towards personalized medicine, there is a renewed conceptual and technological focus on characterizing the cellular and genetic heterogeneity within tumours, to ultimately trace the origins of metastatic cells in different cancers.
癌症转移通常被认为是恶性细胞浸润远端器官的有序事件序列。事实上，转移性疾病的演变是一个动态过程，受到独特的细胞谱系、改变的微环境、不同的解剖限制以及多种遗传和表观遗传改变的影响。这些因素都导致了不同的临床病程，可能需要定制治疗。随着我们逐渐接近个性化医疗，人们对肿瘤内细胞和遗传异质性的特征描述重新产生了概念和技术上的关注，最终追溯不同癌症中转移细胞的起源。
