Rapid evolution and biogeographic spread in a colorectal cancer.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31723138.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-12926-8 and PMC identifier 6853914.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
How and when tumoral clones start spreading to surrounding and distant tissues is currently unclear. Here we leveraged a model-based evolutionary framework to investigate the demographic and biogeographic history of a colorectal cancer. Our analyses strongly support an early monoclonal metastatic colonization, followed by a rapid population expansion at both primary and secondary sites. Moreover, we infer a hematogenous metastatic spread under positive selection, plus the return of some tumoral cells from the liver back to the colon lymph nodes. This study illustrates how sophisticated techniques typical of organismal evolution can provide a detailed, quantitative picture of the complex tumoral dynamics over time and space.
Medical subject headings
- Colorectal Neoplasms