Center of Cancer Systems Biology, Caritas St. Elizabeth\'s Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Cancers (Basel). 2010 May 11;2(2):842-58. doi: 10.3390/cancers2020842.
Although tumor dormancy is highly prevalent, the underling mechanisms are still mostly unknown. It is unclear which lesions will progress and become a disseminated cancer, and which will remain dormant and asymptomatic. Yet, an improved ability to predict progression would open the possibility of timely treatment and improvement in outcomes. We have recently described the ability of platelets to selectively uptake angiogenesis regulators very early in tumor growth, and proposed their use as an early marker of malignancy. In this review we will summarize current knowledge about these processes and will discuss the possibility of using platelet content to predict presence of occult tumors.
虽然肿瘤休眠高度普遍，但潜在机制仍大多未知。目前尚不清楚哪些病变会进展并成为转移性癌症，哪些会保持休眠和无症状。然而，提高预测进展的能力将有可能及时进行治疗并改善预后。我们最近描述了血小板在肿瘤生长早期选择性摄取血管生成调节剂的能力，并提出将其用作恶性肿瘤的早期标志物。在这篇综述中，我们将总结目前关于这些过程的知识，并讨论使用血小板含量来预测隐匿性肿瘤的可能性。
