Collective cell invasion contributes to spread and metastasis in a variety of cancers, including glioblastoma, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. An example of cooperative collective cell migration during normal development, the movement of the border cells during Drosophila oogenesis, has been used to investigate the nature of oncogenic collective cell invasion. In the fly ovary, the border cell cluster consists of 4-8 epithelial-derived follicle cells that surround a central pair of polar cells. During migration to the oocyte the border cells squeeze between the intervening nurse cells; individual border cells stay adhered together and their movement is coordinated as an entire unit.
Genetic screens have identified mutations in multiple genes that disrupt this process and that result in aberrant cell migration.
[updated Feb. 2022 by FlyBase; FBrf0222196]