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Molecular analysis reveals oncofetal cell states emerge at the invasive front of early-stage colorectal cancer, indicating that local fibroblast interactions govern tumor cell plasticity.
In a recent publication in Nature , Buissant des Amorie et al. provide evidence that an oncofetal cell state which is associated with advanced disease, chemoresistance and metastatic competence emerges already in early-stage T1 colorectal cancer (CRC). Intriguingly, oncofetal cell states at the invasive front are in close proximity to an exclusive subcluster of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) thus arguing that cell plasticity towards an oncofetal state is governed by non-cell-autonomous mechanisms. 1
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Amer et al. (2026) studied this question.
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