Figure 1.

Overview of tumor metastasis

(A) The progression from primary to secondary tumor sites involves (1) remodeling of the primary tumor microenvironment to support (2) intravasation of circulating cancer cells into vascular circulation. Steps (1) and (2) work in conjunction with step (3) inter-organ communication between the primary tumor, bone marrow, and immune organs, to prime the pre-metastatic niche in distant target tissues. The pre-metastatic niche facilitates (4) extravasation of cancer cells from circulation into a tissue bed, and (5) targeted cell engraftment in the secondary metastatic site.

(B) Bioengineered systems can be leveraged to deconstruct each of the steps in metastatic progression and improve our understanding of the dynamic interplay between the primary tumor, targeted tissue sites, and immune cells and organs.

Created with BioRender.com.