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Updated: Apr 27, 2026

The Drosophila Imaginal Disc Tumor Model: Visualization and Quantification of Gene Expression and Tumor Invasiveness Using Genetic Mosaics
Published on: October 6, 2016
Dissecting tumour heterogeneity in flies: genetic basis of interclonal oncogenic cooperation
Shizue Ohsawa1, Daisaku Takemoto1, Tatsushi Igaki2
1Laboratory of Genetics, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Konoecho-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; and PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan.
Abstract:
Cancers develop through sequential acquisition of oncogenic mutations, indicating a crucial role of genetic alterations in tumour progression. However, accumulating evidence suggests that cancers also progress towards malignancy through cell-cell interactions within heterogeneous tumour tissue. Recent studies have indicated that tumour heterogeneity not only contributes to drug resistance and tumour recurrence but also plays an active role in promoting tumour progression. Especially, genetic studies in Drosophila have discovered novel types of tumour progression through cell-cell interactions and have dissected the underlying mechanisms. This review focuses on describing recent findings obtained from Drosophila genetics that provide genetic basis of interclonal oncogenic cooperation in heterogeneous tumour tissue.
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