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Nature Cell Biology 8, 1321–1323 (1 December 2006) | doi:10.1038/ncb1206-1321

S100 chemokines mediate bookmarking of premetastatic niches

Shahin Rafii & David Lyden

It has long been recognized that the preferential colonization of specific tissues by certain tumour types is, in part, determined by the unique nature of the microenvironment within distant target organs. Emerging evidence suggests that certain primary tumour cells release soluble factors that induce a specific population of non-malignant haematopoietic cells to mobilize and engraft distant organ tissues, thereby establishing a 'premetastatic niche' that lay a foundation for incoming circulating cancer cells.