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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Oct 14.
Published in final edited form as: Cell. 2011 Oct 14;147(2):275–292. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2011.09.024

Figure 5. Inefficiency of the Invasion-Metastasis Cascade: Metastatic Colonization is Often Rate-Limiting.

Figure 5

Certain steps of the invasion-metastasis cascade are successfully completed with only extraordinary inefficiency. Work in experimental models has revealed that the process of metastatic colonization typically represents the rate-limiting step of the invasion-metastasis cascade, with a rate of attrition that often exceeds 99% of those cells that initially survive in a foreign microenvironment to form micrometastases. Red x-marks denote the approximate cumulative fraction of intravenously implanted tumor cells that have died after passage through the indicated steps of the invasion-metastasis cascade.