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What DKKtates where to metastasize

Cancer cells preferentially metastasize to certain organs. A study in mouse models of breast cancer shows that the DKK1 negative regulator of WNT signalling inhibits tropism to the lung, but enhances tropism to the bone due to the differential regulation of canonical and non-canonical WNT signalling in the two microenvironments.

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Figure 1: Metastatic efficiency is regulated by organ-specific crosstalk between metastasized cancer cells and the tumour microenvironment through secreted proteins.

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Correspondence to Wei Zheng or Jeffrey W. Pollard.

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Zheng, W., Pollard, J. What DKKtates where to metastasize. Nat Cell Biol 19, 1146–1148 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb3621

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