Highlights
- •Targeting the attachment of the leucocyte to the cancer cell outer cell membrane.
- •Integration of the fusion partner genes into hybrid genomes.
- •Inhibition of post-hybridization events involving epistasis impacting gene expresstion for chemotaxis, intravasation, extravasation, and cell migration.
Abstract
In 1911 it was proposed that cancer might result from fusion and hybridization between
macrophages and cancer cells. Using immunohistochemistry it was determined that essentially
all solid tumors expressed macrophage-like molecules on their cell surface. More recently
we have used forensic (STR) genetics that allows one to detect DNA from more than
one individual in the same sample. By studying biopsies from individuals receiving
allogeneic stem cell transplants and later developed solid tumor metastases, we were
able to detect both donor and patient DNA sequences suggesting that hybrids were present.
Previously we found hybrids in biopsies of a renal cell carcinoma, a melanoma in a
brain metastasis and a melanoma in a primary tumor with lymph node metastases. Here
we have traced hybrids from a primary melanoma to an axillary lymph node to a brain
metastasis. This is the first time that the entire metastatic process has been documented.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 28, 2021
Accepted:
May 24,
2021
Received in revised form:
April 17,
2021
Received:
February 23,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc.
