Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.
Cells. 2018 Dec 29;8(1):13. doi: 10.3390/cells8010013.
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?
白细胞-肿瘤细胞融合作为癌症进展的重要驱动因素的概念已经存在很长时间了,并且在过去几年中得到了越来越多的支持。其基本思路似乎非常简单且具有吸引力:肿瘤细胞(具有内在的遗传不稳定性)与白细胞,特别是巨噬细胞融合,可能产生具有高侵袭能力的杂种,极大地促进其转移扩散,同时可能加速肿瘤细胞异质性。虽然这个故事表面上有很多吸引人的地方,但各种研究似乎给我们留下了一个难题,即这种融合的命运如何?