title: Dissecting cancer evolution at the macro-heterogeneity and micro-heterogeneity scale.
abstract: Intratumour heterogeneity complicates biomarker discovery and treatment personalization, and pervasive cancer evolution is a key mechanism leading to therapy failure and patient death. Thus, understanding subclonal heterogeneity architectures and cancer evolution processes is critical for the development of effective therapeutic approaches which can control or thwart cancer evolutionary plasticity. Current insights into heterogeneity are mainly limited to the macroheterogeneity level, established by cancer subclones that have undergone significant clonal expansion. Novel single cell sequencing and blood-based subclonal tracking technologies are enabling detailed insights into microheterogeneity and the dynamics of clonal evolution. We assess how this starts to delineate the rules governing cancer evolution and novel angles for more effective therapeutic intervention.
authors.affiliation: Translational Oncogenomics Laboratory, Centre for Evolution and Cancer, Division of Molecular Pathology, The Institute of Cancer Research, 237 Fulham Road, London SW3 6JB, UK.
authors.forename: Louise J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.affiliation: Translational Oncogenomics Laboratory, Centre for Evolution and Cancer, Division of Molecular Pathology, The Institute of Cancer Research, 237 Fulham Road, London SW3 6JB, UK.
authors.forename: Matthew N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.affiliation: Translational Oncogenomics Laboratory, Centre for Evolution and Cancer, Division of Molecular Pathology, The Institute of Cancer Research, 237 Fulham Road, London SW3 6JB, UK; Gastrointestinal Cancer Unit, The Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Fulham Road, London SW3 6JJ, UK. Electronic address: marco.gerlinger@icr.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerlinger
mesh_terms: D060965:Clonal Evolution; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis / Q000379:methods