Phylogenetic analyses of melanoma reveal complex patterns of metastatic dissemination.

ABSTRACT: Melanoma is difficult to treat once it becomes metastatic. However, the precise ancestral relationship between primary tumors and their metastases is not well understood. We performed whole-exome sequencing of primary melanomas and multiple matched metastases from eight patients to elucidate their phylogenetic relationships. In six of eight patients, we found that genetically distinct cell populations in the primary tumor metastasized in parallel to different anatomic sites, rather than sequentially from one site to the next. In five of these six patients, the metastasizing cells had themselves arisen from a common parental subpopulation in the primary, indicating that the ability to establish metastases is a late-evolving trait. Interestingly, we discovered that individual metastases were

SUBMITTER: Sanborn JZ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4568214 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature