Metastasis as an evolutionary process
Therapeutic advances in oncology have not fully translated to the treatment of metastatic disease, which remains largely incurable. Metastatic subclones can emerge both early and late in the life of the primary tumor. A better understanding of the genetic evolution of metastatic disease has the pote...
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Published in | Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 352; no. 6282; pp. 169 - 175 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
American Association for the Advancement of Science
08.04.2016
The American Association for the Advancement of Science |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Therapeutic advances in oncology have not fully translated to the treatment of metastatic disease, which remains largely incurable. Metastatic subclones can emerge both early and late in the life of the primary tumor. A better understanding of the genetic evolution of metastatic disease has the potential to reveal differences in the therapeutic vulnerabilities of primary and metastatic tumors, shed light on the temporal patterns of and routes to metastatic colonization, and provide insight into the biology of the metastatic process. Here we review recent comparative studies of primary and metastatic tumors, including data suggesting that macroevolutionary shifts (the onset of chromosomal instability) contribute to the evolution of metastatic disease. We also discuss the practical challenges associated with these studies and how they might be overcome. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1 |
ISSN: | 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
DOI: | 10.1126/science.aaf2784 |