Recent results in cancer research. Fortschritte der Krebsforschung. Progrès dans les recherches sur le cancer
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Recent findings, briefly summarized here, show that the dissemination of neoplastic cells is an early and continuing process; that individual tumor cells in a malignant tumor possess differing metastatic capacities; and that metastases can arise from specific subpopulations of tumor cells. These findings have considerable implications for the understanding and treatment of systemic malignancies. ⋯ The trauma and stress associated with surgical intervention does not of itself seem to constitute a major tumor-promoting component. More likely candidates responsible for enhanced outgrowth of metastases after surgery are the removal of the growth-inhibitory restraint that the primary tumor exerts on disseminated neoplastic cells.