6533b82efe1ef96bd1293b63

RESEARCH PRODUCT

In Vivo Observations on Tumor Invasion

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description

Tumor invasion in vivo is a very complex and dynamic process which depends upon a variety of interactions between heterogeneous tumor cell populations and the different cellular and extracellular components of the host tissue. This situation cannot be reproduced even in the most sophisticated in vitro system. On the other hand, there is at present no method available for a direct and dynamic observation of tumor invasion deep in the nontransparent living tissue, so that all evidence has to be derived from indirect observations made on the basis of static morphology. But all these limitations do not deny the potential value of in vivo investigations in following the natural course of tumor invasion. The present article discusses the major mechanisms of tumor invasion based on in vivo observations in various animal and human tumors with special emphasis on tumor differentiation.