The Role of Cancer Stem Cells in the Organ Tropism of Breast Cancer Metastasis: A Mechanistic Balance between the “Seed” and the “Soil”?

Figure 1

Potential factors involved in the organ-specific metastasis of breast cancer to the brain, liver, lymph nodes, lung, and bone. Brain, lung, and liver images were acquired with thanks to Creative Commons Licensing (CC0 1.0, Public Domain Dedication). Bone image from Gray’s Anatomy (1918, Public Domain, copyright expired). Underlining indicates tumor-derived factors. Italics indicate organ-derived factors. *indicates factor identified by microarray analysis of organ-specific metastatic cell line variants [56–59].