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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Mar 20.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2023 Feb 21;42(1):99–112. doi: 10.1007/s10555-023-10094-2

Fig 3: Salient features of dormancy.

Fig 3:

A) The microenvironment of the primary site dictates the fate of the DTCs. Recent studies have helmed hypoxia as one such factor that regulates dormancy programs in the cells that eventually become DTCs and are characterized by changes in expression levels of Cdc42, ZFP281, NWASp, Wave, srGAP1 among others. B) Dynamic tripartite structure, known as “TMEM doorways” comprising of disseminated tumor cells, tumor-associated macrophages, and endothelial cells are at the core of the metastatic cascade. At these doorways, tumor cells have been profiled to have high levels of NR2F1 and SOX2, both of which are known mediators of cellular dormancy. C) Reseeding of cancer cells to tertiary organs is at the forefront of many metastasis studies. Research indicates that certain organs e.g., the bone marrow, can potentially act as reservoirs from where DTCs can spread to tertiary organs such as the lung and brain.