Emerging roles of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in hematological malignancies

Background Epithelial-mesenchymal transition is an important process in embryonic development, fibrosis, and cancer metastasis. During the progression of epithelial cancer, activation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition is tightly associated with metastasis, stemness and drug resistance. However, the role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in non-epithelial cancer is relatively unclear.