Metastasis Stemming from Circulating Tumor Cell Clusters

Circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters have an enhanced capacity to initiate metastases, compared with single cells, but it is unclear how they gain such advantage. A recent study by Gkountela et al. ( Cell 2019;176:98–112) links the physical state of clusters with increased accessibility of stem cell-related transcription factors, providing novel insights into the epigenetic regulation of ‘stemness’ in CTC clusters