肿瘤干细胞（cancer stem cell，CSC）能自我更新，分化形成异质性的肿瘤子代细胞群，是肿瘤复发与转移的主要原因。肿瘤转移干细胞（metastatic cancer stem cell，MCSC）具有CSC特性，同时伴有转移能力。肿瘤转移既发生于肿瘤晚期，也发生于早期。MCSC在起源、上皮-间质转变（epithelial-mesenchymal transition，EMT）、间质-上皮转变（mesenchymal-epithelial transition，MET）和靶器官小生境（niche）等方面与CSC不同，因而MCSC是肿瘤转移的基础。杀灭CSC、阻断EMT和MET、抑制MCSC微血管黏附和阻断MCSC依赖的小生境可构建抗肿瘤转移的治疗策略。本文主要介绍MCSC的可能来源，MCSC的生物学特性，MCSC近期研究中可能取得的突破，以及针对MCSC的抗转移策略，为肿瘤转移机制研究和抗转移研究提供参考。

Cancer stem cells (CSC) are capable of selfrenewal and can proliferate into a heterogeneous bulk with cancer progeny population, which is the main reason for recurrence and metastasis of cancer. Metastatic cancer stem cells (MCSC) have the properties of CSC and the ability of metastasis. Metastasis happens at both the late and early stages of tumorigenesis. MCSC are different from CSC in origin, epithelialmesenchymal transition (EMT), mesenchymalepithelial transition (MET), and microenvironment of target organs (niche), etc. Therefore, MCSC is the foundation of cancer metastasis. Antimetastasis strategies include killing CSC, blocking EMT and MET of CSC, inhibiting MCSC adhesion to microvessels, and destroying MCSC dependentniche. This review introduces the possible sources, biological features of MCSC, the possible breakthrough in MCSC research, and MCSCtargeted antimetastasis strategy, hoping to provide reference for researches about tumor metastasis mechanisms and antimetastasis strategies.

国家自然科学基金资助项目（No. 30170423,30370649,30670968,30670967,30770977,30971361）；广州市科技计划基金资助项目（No. 2007Z3-E4011）