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Cancer

Tumour stem cells switch sides

Nature volume 468, pages 770–771 (2010)Cite this article

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Tumour stem cells are proposed to be the source of tumour cells. It now emerges that they also give rise to the endothelial cells that line the tumour vasculature, mediating tumour growth and metastasis. See Letters p.824 & p.829

To grow, solid tumours need a blood supply. They recruit new blood vessels mainly by inducing the sprouting of endothelial cells from external vessels and promoting the cells' migration into the tumour. This ability, called the angiogenic switch, is required for tumour cells to invade surrounding tissue and metastasize to distant sites — the deadly hallmarks of cancer1. In this issue, Wang et al.2 and Ricci-Vitiani et al.3 show that, in addition to recruiting vessels from outside, brain tumours produce endothelial cells for vessel formation from within.

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Figure 1: Tumour stem-like cells are multipotent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Victoria L. Bautch is in the Department of Biology, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, McAllister Heart Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. bautch@med.unc.edu,

    Victoria L. Bautch

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  1. Victoria L. Bautch
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Bautch, V. Tumour stem cells switch sides. Nature 468, 770–771 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/468770a

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