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Evolutionary scalpels for dissecting tumor ecosystems
- Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- Amidst the growing literature on cancer genomics and intratumor heterogeneity, essential principles in evolutionary biology recur time and time again. Here we use these principles to guide the reader through major advances in cancer research, highlighting issues of “hit hard, hit early” treatment strategies, drug resistance, and metastasis. We distinguish between two frameworks for understanding heterogeneous tumors, both of which can inform treatment strategies: (1) The tumor as diverse ecosystem , a Darwinian population of sometimes-competing, sometimes-cooperating cells; (2) The tumor as tightly integrated, self-regulating organ , which may hijack developmental signals to restore functional heterogeneity after treatment. While the first framework dominates literature on cancer evolution, the second framework enjoys support as well. Throughout this review, we illustrate how mathematical models inform understanding of tumor progression and treatment outcomes. Connecting models to genomic data faces computational and technical hurdles, but high-throughput single-cell technologies show promise to clear these hurdles. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Evolutionary principles - heterogeneity in cancer?, edited by Dr. Robert A. Gatenby.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Cancer Research
Heredity
Time Factors
Population
Genomics
Antineoplastic Agents
Biology
Bioinformatics
Article
Evolution, Molecular
03 medical and health sciences
Intratumor heterogeneity
Neoplasms
Genetics
medicine
Biomarkers, Tumor
Tumor Microenvironment
Animals
Humans
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
education
Cognitive science
education.field_of_study
Models, Genetic
Cancer
medicine.disease
Adaptation, Physiological
Pedigree
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
030104 developmental biology
Cell Transformation, Neoplastic
Phenotype
Oncology
Tumor progression
Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
Cancer evolution
Mutation
Darwinism
Genetic Fitness
After treatment
Signal Transduction
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....25c2c110e7b25e2a30abe73f60169169