We recently discovered that bone micrometastases of breast cancer predominantly reside in the microenvironment termed the "osteogenic niche". The heterotypic adherens junctions between cancer cells and osteogenic cells promote early-stage bone colonization by activating the mTOR pathway in cancer cells. Here, we discuss a few questions raised by these findings.
Keywords: bone micrometastasis; colonization of disseminated breast cancer cells; heterotypic adherens junctions; mTOR pathway; osteogenic niche.