Toward a systems-level probing of tumor clonality

Emanuelle I Grody; Ajay Abraham; Vipul Shukla; Yogesh Goyal

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106574

Toward a systems-level probing of tumor clonality

iScience. 2023 Apr 6;26(5):106574. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106574. eCollection 2023 May 19.

Authors

Emanuelle I Grody^{1

2

3}, Ajay Abraham^{1

3

4}, Vipul Shukla^{1

3

4}, Yogesh Goyal^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
² Center for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60208, USA.
³ Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
⁴ Center for Human Immunobiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.

Abstract

Cancer has been described as a genetic disease that clonally evolves in the face of selective pressures imposed by cell-intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Although classical models based on genetic data predominantly propose Darwinian mechanisms of cancer evolution, recent single-cell profiling of cancers has described unprecedented heterogeneity in tumors providing support for alternative models of branched and neutral evolution through both genetic and non-genetic mechanisms. Emerging evidence points to a complex interplay between genetic, non-genetic, and extrinsic environmental factors in shaping the evolution of tumors. In this perspective, we briefly discuss the role of cell-intrinsic and extrinsic factors that shape clonal behaviors during tumor progression, metastasis, and drug resistance. Taking examples of pre-malignant states associated with hematological malignancies and esophageal cancer, we discuss recent paradigms of tumor evolution and prospective approaches to further enhance our understanding of this spatiotemporally regulated process.

Keywords: Cancer; Cancer systems biology; Immunology.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding