Metastatic Potential of Cancer Stem Cells in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

in vitro, CSCs do not have an increased ability to invade through basement membrane, but they migrate more efficiently through a porous barrier. In contrast, CSCs efficiently formed lung lesions in vivo, whereas non-CSCs did not give rise to any distant disease. This phenomenon could be due to the enhanced migratory capacity of CSCs, which may be more important than basement membrane degradation in vivo.