Cellular cannibalism: An insight

Abstract

The phenomenon of cell cannibalism refers to the engulfment of cells within other cells. It is an unusual phenomenon associated with poor prognosis of high-grade cancers. It has been suggested that cannibalism may represent a sort of "feeding" activity aimed at sustaining survival and progression of malignant tumor cells in an unfavorable microenvironment. There is a paucity of literature relevant to cell in cell phenomenon associated with oral cancer. In this review, an attempt has been made to unveil the intricacies of cellular engulfments.

Keywords

• Apoptosis
• cancer
• cannibalism
• microenvironment
• ploidy