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Published on: September 19, 2019
Evolutionary mechanisms and diversity in cancer
Henry H Q Heng1, Joshua B Stevens, Steven W Bremer
1Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, MI, USA.
Advances in Cancer Research
|September 20, 2011
Summary
The genome theory of cancer evolution reframes cancer studies by linking molecular mechanisms to evolutionary processes. This approach identifies cancer
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Cancer research
- Genomics
Background:
- Traditional cancer research focused on common gene mutations and pathways.
- A new genome theory of cancer evolution offers a broader framework.
- Understanding cancer's evolutionary mechanism requires integrating molecular and population-level dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and explain the genome theory of cancer evolution.
- To analyze key components of somatic cell evolution within this framework.
- To link molecular mechanisms to genome diversity and tumorigenicity.
Main Methods:
- Reviewing historical attempts to explain cancer evolution.
- Analyzing somatic cell evolution components: diversity, information/control systems, and evolutionary phases.
- Connecting molecular mechanisms to genome population diversity and tumorigenicity.
Main Results:
- Cancer's general mechanism is identified as an evolutionary process.
- This process involves stress-induced genome instability, population diversity, and genome-mediated macroevolution.
- The evolutionary mechanism is the aggregate of all molecular mechanisms, explaining cancer's complexity.
Conclusions:
- The genome theory provides a unified framework for cancer evolution.
- Cancer arises from multiple cycles of genome-mediated macroevolution, a stochastic event.
- This theory has potential implications for clinical cancer research and treatment.
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