Prostate cancer spreads to bones by overtaking the home of blood stem cells

University of Michigan researchers have discovered why prostate and breast cancer usually recur in the bone. Prostate cancer cells specifically target and eventually overrun the bone marrow niche, a specialised area for hematopoietic stem cells, which make red and white blood cells. Once in the niche, the cancer cells stay dormant and when they become active again years later - that’s when tumors recur in the bone.