Background: There is experimental evidence from animal models favoring
the notion that the disruption of interactions between stroma and epithelium plays an
important role in the initiation of carcinogenesis. These disrupted interactions are
hypothesized to be mediated by molecules, termed morphostats, which diffuse through
the tissue to ... read moredetermine cell phenotype and maintain tissue
architecture.
Baker, Stuart, Ana M. Soto, Carlos Sonnenschein, Antonio
Cappuccio, John D. Potter, and Barnett S. Kramer. "Plausibility of stromal initiation
of epithelial cancers without a mutation in the epithelium: a computer simulation of
morphostats." BMC Cancer 9, no. 1 (12, 2009): 1-11.