The DARC side of metastasis: shining a light on KAI1-mediated metastasis suppression in the vascular tunnel.

Tumor cell metastasis to distant organs is an inefficient process that is limited in part by recently identified metastasis suppressors. Interactions between tumor cells and the surrounding stroma are thought to control much of cancer progression. In the August issue of Nature Medicine, demonstrate that specific cell surface interactions between the metastasis suppressor KAI1 on tumor cells and the decoy cytokine receptor DARC on adjacent vascular cells triggers senescence in the tumor cells and suppresses metastasis. These new observations demonstrate how metastasis suppressors can relay the restraint imposed by the stroma onto disseminating tumor cells.