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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2023 Nov 1.
Published in final edited form as: Semin Cancer Biol. 2021 Dec 22;86(Pt 3):816–826. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2021.12.006

Figure 5: Intermediate filament expression changes during cancer progression.

Figure 5:

A) During primary tumor growth in the breast, some cells begin to undergo EMT. B) The cells with mesenchymal-like phenotypes function as leader cells during invasion and intravasation into the bloodstream. Individual circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and clusters of CTCs have both been observed in circulation. C) CTCs extravagate to metastatic sites to seed the tissues and remain dormant (in lungs in this example). D) At the metastatic site, the dormant carcinoma cells resume proliferation and ultimately resemble the primary tumor with largely epithelial morphology as a result of the mesenchymal to epithelial transition.