Do malignant cells sleep at night?

• Published in: Genome Biology Vol. 21; no. 1; p. 276
• Main Authors: Cortés-Hernández, Luis Enrique, Eslami-S, Zahra, Dujon, Antoine M., Giraudeau, Mathieu, Ujvari, Beata, Thomas, Frédéric, Alix-Panabières, Catherine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 12.11.2020; BMC
• Subjects: Biological clocks; Biopsy; Chronobiology; Chronobiology Phenomena; Circadian cycle; Circadian Rhythm; Circadian Rhythm - physiology; Circulating tumor cells; Disease ecology; genome; Life Sciences; Liquid Biopsy; Metastases; metastasis; Microbiota; microorganisms; neoplasm progression; Neoplasms; Neoplasms - genetics; Neoplasms - psychology; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; Parasites; Phenology; Review; Shift work; Sleep; Sleep - physiology; Sleep deprivation; Tumor cells; Tumor dissemination; Tumor dissemination; Disease ecology; Circulating tumor cells; Chronobiology; Phenology; Circadian cycle
• ISSN: 1474-760X; 1474-7596; 1465-6906; 1474-760X
• DOI: 10.1186/s13059-020-02179-w

Biological rhythms regulate the biology of most, if not all living creatures, from whole organisms to their constitutive cells, their microbiota, and also parasites. Here, we present the hypothesis that internal and external ecological variations induced by biological cycles also influence or are exploited by cancer cells, especially by circulating tumor cells, the key players in the metastatic cascade. We then discuss the possible clinical implications of the effect of biological cycles on cancer progression, and how they could be exploited to improve and standardize methods used in the liquid biopsy field.