Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer Metastasis Rev. 2016 Dec;35(4):669–676. doi: 10.1007/s10555-016-9639-8

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4

Intra- and extra-tumoral functions of EVs. Exchange of EVs within the tumor induces phenotypic transfer, spreading metastatic traits to neighboring cells. This allows small subpopulations of cells within the tumor to exert a much larger effect. EVs secreted by tumor cells can also travel to and influence other cell types including endothelial cells, immune cells, and fibroblasts. EVs can be organotropic, allowing them to form a premetastatic niche in specific organs to facilitate cancer metastatic spread. Together these effects can create a permissive environment for cancer metastasis.