Circulating tumor cells: Come together, right now, over metastasis

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTC) are the source of metastases, but only an infinitesimal fraction of them eventually succeed in colonizing a distant organ. New results show that CD44-dependent aggregation in the circulation provides CTCs with cancer stem cell–like characteristics, suggesting an explanation for the low metastatic efficiency of CTCs, but also avenues for therapeutic intervention.