WikimediaRamaOne reason certain tumors can be hard to eliminate is that they contain a variety of different cells. This inherent heterogeneity was thought to be driven largely by the cells’ high mutation rates, but a report published in Science today (December 13) adds to growing evidence that non-genetic factors are also responsible.
“The take home message is, yes, it is important to know . . . what the genetic heterogeneity [of cancer] is, but heterogeneity among genetically-stable [cell lineages] is a factor that you also have to consider,” said Stephen Baylin, professor of oncology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, who was not involved in the study.
Cancer cells, by their very nature, tend to be genetically unstable. And it is thought that this instability leads to the generation of tumor cell populations, also known as subclones, that possess different mutations and behaviors. Indeed, genetic differences have been shown to affect the growth rate, metastatic potential, and tumorigenicity of individual subclones, as well as their response to therapy.
Of all these behaviors, tumorogenicity—the ...
