Cancer biologists use principles of evolution to understand the development of t

Question

Cancer biologists use principles of evolution to understand the development of tumors. A population of cells can obtain a mutation after exposure to a carcinogen. In some of the cells, the mutation is not repaired by the cell’s DNA repair machinery and is retained in the genotype. Only a fraction of the cells retaining the mutation become cancerous and only a fraction of those cells have the ability to form a tumor – cells that grow much faster than normal body cells. From the perspective of a tumor-causing cell, what evolutionary processes are at work? From the perspective of the body harboring these tumor cells, what evolutionary processes are at work?

Explanation / Answer

Cancer is a disease where cells disobey normal growth control mechanisms. Progression of a cell from normal to pre-cancerous to cancerous represents a form of Darwinian evolution favoured by natural selections. The mutation that causes cancer defies cell growth mechanisms such as apoptosis, tumor suppresion and immune system. The mutations that cause cancer get accumulated in cells and those cells get naturally selected to further form colonies. Repititive clonal expansion and clonal selection help in cancer progression.l

On the other hand the body harboring tumor cells develop certain tumor suppression mechanisms that get naturally selected to prevent the growth of cancer. Immune cells that fight against cancer get naturally selected.

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