Metastatic dissemination has lethal consequences for cancer patients. Accruing evidence supports the hypothesis that tumor cells can migrate and metastasize as clusters of cells while maintaining contacts with one another. Collective metastasis enables tumor cells to colonize secondary sites more efficiently, resist cell death, and evade the immune system. On the other hand, tumor cell clusters face unique challenges for dissemination particularly during systemic dissemination. Here, we review recent progress toward understanding how tumor cell clusters overcome these disadvantages as well as mechanisms they utilize to gain advantages throughout the metastatic process. We consider useful models for studying collective metastasis and reflect on how the study of collective metastasis suggests new opportunities for eradicating and preventing metastatic disease.

中文翻译：

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肿瘤细胞簇对集体迁移和转移的编排


转移播散对癌症患者有致命的后果。越来越多的证据支持肿瘤细胞可以作为细胞簇迁移和转移，同时保持彼此接触的假设。集体转移使肿瘤细胞能够更有效地定植次生位点，抵抗细胞死亡，并逃避免疫系统。另一方面，肿瘤细胞簇面临独特的播散挑战，尤其是在全身播散期间。在这里，我们回顾了了解肿瘤细胞簇如何克服这些缺点以及它们在整个转移过程中利用获得优势的机制的最新进展。我们考虑了研究集体转移的有用模型，并反思了集体转移的研究如何为根除和预防转移性疾病提供新的机会。