Metabolism and its sequelae in cancer evolution and therapy.

ABSTRACT: Cancers progress through a series of events that can be characterized as "somatic evolution." A central premise of Darwinian evolutionary theory is that the environment imparts pressure to select for species that are most fit within that particular microenvironmental context. Furthermore, the rate of evolution is proportional to both (1) the strength of the environmental selection and (2) the phenotypic variance of the selected population. It is notable that, during the progression of cancers from carcinogenesis to local invasion to metastasis, the selective landscape continuously changes, and throughout this process, there is increased selection for cells that have altered metabolic phenotypes: implying that these phenotypes impart a selective advantage during the process of environmental

SUBMITTER: Gillies RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4446699 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar-Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature