Understanding cancer cell plasticity: EMT, respecialisation, and therapeutic opportunities

The epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a source of cancer cell plasticity and tumour heterogeneity, and is increasingly recognised as a complex and dynamic process (Aiello et al, 2018; Brown et al, 2022). EMT should not be viewed as a simple linear process, but rather as a continuum of interconnected networks that facilitate cellular changes and adaptations. This fluidity underlies the concept of cellular plasticity, which is crucial in understanding tumour progression and metastasis. Pioneering studies from Robert Weinberg's lab and others have demonstrated the existence of such states and highlighted the complex nature of EMT and the underlying difficulties in targeting it, which remains one of the overarching challenges in cancer therapy (Dongre Kröger et al, 2019).