Fig. 1
From: Engineered models to parse apart the metastatic cascade
Illustrated Overview of the Metastatic Cascade. Schematic showing the essential steps in metastasis. Step 1: cancer cells invade through basement membrane and migrate through the tumor stroma; Step 2: intravasation into vasculature; Step 3: survival in the circulation is characterized by circulating tumor cells in the bloodstream undergoing shear stress and evading clearance by the immune system before reaching distant organs. After attaching to blood vessels around secondary sites, tumor cells enter; Step 4: extravasation through the endothelial barrier and Step 5: Colonization in the metastatic target organ
