Primary tumor cells create favorable microenvironments in secondary organs, termed pre-metastatic niches, that promote the formation of metastases. Using immune competent syngenic breast cancer mouse models, we have recently demonstrated that factors secreted by hypoxic tumor cells condition pre-metastatic niches by recruiting CD11b+/Ly6Cmed/Ly6G+ myeloid cells and suppressing natural killer cell functions.
Keywords: MDSC; NK cells; bone marrow-derived cells; breast cancer; hypoxia; immunosuppression; pre-metastatic niche.