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. 2018 Oct 25;10(4):205. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics10040205

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Mechanism of bone metastasis. (1) Cancer cells from primary tumor detach and invade surrounding tissue before (2) intravasation into the circulatory and lymphatic systems. Lymph, and the cancer cells within it, ultimately enters the bloodstream through the subclavian vein, via the thoracic ducts. Cancer cells that evade the immune system (3) translocate through capillaries in the bone where they (4) extravasate into the bone marrow to (5) establish metastatic sites.