Cancer: evolution within a lifetime

• Published in: Annual review of genetics Vol. 48; p. 215
• Main Authors: Gerlinger, Marco, McGranahan, Nicholas, Dewhurst, Sally M, Burrell, Rebecca A, Tomlinson, Ian, Swanton, Charles
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2014
• Subjects: Chromosome Aberrations; Evolution, Molecular; Genetic Heterogeneity; Humans; Mutation; Neoplasms - etiology; Neoplasms - genetics; precision medicine; intratumor heterogeneity; cancer evolution; drug resistance; genome instability

Subclonal cancer populations change spatially and temporally during the disease course. Studies are revealing branched evolutionary cancer growth with low-frequency driver events present in subpopulations of cells, providing escape mechanisms for targeted therapeutic approaches. Despite such complex...