Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Cell migration

Follow the leader!

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 8, page 941 (2007)Cite this article

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

How tumour cells invade the surrounding tissue remains an open question in cancer biology. While various models exist, a popular concept being the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, Erik Sahai and colleagues now provide evidence for an alternative mechanism of epithelial cell invasion that does not involve transition to a mesenchymal state. Instead, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells that retain epithelial characteristics exploit the matrix remodelling ability of nearby mesenchymal cells and follow in their tracks.

...different cell types within a tumour can cooperate to mediate collective invasion into the surrounding tissue...

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Gaggioli, C. et al. Collective invasion of carcinoma cells is led by fibroblasts; distinct roles for integrins and RhoGTPases in leading and following cells. Nature Cell Biol. 25 Nov 2007 (doi: 10.1038/ncb1658)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

FURTHER READING

  1. Sahai, E. Illuminating the metastatic process. Nature Rev. Cancer 7, 737–749 (2007)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Gemma K. Alderton
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Alderton, G. Follow the leader!. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 8, 941 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2302

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2302

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing