Roles of cell fusion, hybridization and polyploid cell formation in cancer metastasis

Figure 2 The cell fusion theory in relation to cancer progression mechanisms. A cancer cell and a leukocyte form a hybrid that acquires genetic, phenotypic and functional properties from both maternal cells. The hybrid cells develop properties associated with cancer metastasis, such as epithelial mesenchymal transition, stemness, invasiveness, treatment resistance and may lose some of the maternal cancer cell's tissue-specific phenotype. EMT: Epithelial to mesenchymal transition.