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The current paradigm and challenges ahead for the dormancy of disseminated tumor cells

Nature Cancer volume 1, pages 672–680 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) are known to enter a state of dormancy that is achieved via growth arrest of DTCs and/or a form of population equilibrium state, strongly influenced by the organ microenvironment. During this time, expansion of residual disseminated cancer is paused and DTCs survive to fuel relapse, sometimes decades later. This notion has opened a new window of opportunity for intervening and preventing relapse. Here we review recent data that have further augmented the understanding of cancer dormancy and discuss how this is leading to new strategies for monitoring and targeting dormant cancer.

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Fig. 1: Differences and commonalities among normal quiescent, senescent, differentiated cells and dormant cancer cells.
Fig. 2: The various BM niches, cell types and cues that regulate the dormancy of DTCs and HSCs.
Fig. 3: Cues, receptors and cell types involved in DTC reactivation and pro-dormancy niches.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Aguirre-Ghiso and Maguer-Satta labs for useful discussions during the preparation of this article. E.R. is supported by a doctoral fellowship from the University of Lyon, France, and by CLARA and IDEX Lyon mobility fellowships. E.R., A.R.N. and J.A.A.-G. are supported by grants CA109182, CA218024, CA216248 and CA196521 from the US National Institutes of Health; the Jimmy V Foundation; the Falk Medical Research Trust; HiberCell; and Metavivor. J.A.A.-G. is a Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation Investigator. V.M.S. is supported by grants from ‘Fondation de France’ 2014-0047501 and 2017-00076282/Fondation Ramona Ehrman Amador, ‘Association Laurette Fugain’ ALF2014-03, Ligue contre le Cancer (Haute Savoie, Loire, Puy de Dôme and Rhone), ‘Association ALTE-SMP’ and the Institut Convergence PLASCAN.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Emma Risson, Ana Rita Nobre.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Lyon, Lyon, France

    Emma Risson & Veronique Maguer-Satta

  2. CNRS UMR5286, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Lyon, Lyon, France

    Emma Risson & Veronique Maguer-Satta

  3. Inserm U1052, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Lyon, Lyon, France

    Emma Risson & Veronique Maguer-Satta

  4. Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology, Department of Oncological Sciences, Black Family Stem Cell Institute, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Emma Risson, Ana Rita Nobre & Julio A. Aguirre-Ghiso

  5. Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Ana Rita Nobre

Authors
  1. Emma Risson
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  2. Ana Rita Nobre
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  3. Veronique Maguer-Satta
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  4. Julio A. Aguirre-Ghiso
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Contributions

All authors conceived of the article, performed literature searches, integrated the information, and wrote, discussed and edited the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julio A. Aguirre-Ghiso.

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Competing interests

J.A.A.-G. is a scientific co-founder of, scientific advisory board member and equity owner in HiberCell and receives financial compensation as a consultant for HiberCell, a Mount Sinai spin-off company focused on the research and development of therapeutics that prevent or delay the recurrence of cancer.

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Risson, E., Nobre, A.R., Maguer-Satta, V. et al. The current paradigm and challenges ahead for the dormancy of disseminated tumor cells. Nat Cancer 1, 672–680 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43018-020-0088-5

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