The seed and soil hypothesis revisited: Current state of knowledge of inherited genes on prognosis in breast cancer

The crucial event in the course of malignancies such as breast cancer is its metastatic spread from the primary tumor of origin to distant organs. The natural history of a tumor is determined by the expression of its genes, and in this sense, knowledge has advanced dramatically in recent decades. However, much less is known about the role that the patient plays in the behavior of a tumor. In this article, we review the evidence regarding the genetic background of the host in metastatic tumor dissemination, providing information from epidemiological studies as well as from animal models and human studies. Undoubtedly, the elucidation of possible interpersonal variability in susceptibility to developing metastases would significantly contribute to improve management of cancer patients.