title: Evolutionary perspective of cancer: myth, metaphors, and reality.
abstract: The evolutionary perspective of cancer (which origins and dynamics result from evolutionary processes) has gained significant international recognition over the past decade and generated a wave of enthusiasm among researchers. In this context, several authors proposed that insights into evolutionary and adaptation dynamics of cancers can be gained by studying the evolutionary strategies of organisms. Although this reasoning is fundamentally correct, in our opinion, it contains a potential risk of excessive adaptationism, potentially leading to the suggestion of complex adaptations that are unlikely to evolve among cancerous cells. For example, the ability of recognizing related conspecifics and adjusting accordingly behaviors as in certain free-living species appears unlikely in cancer. Indeed, despite their rapid evolutionary rate, malignant cells are under selective pressures for their altered lifestyle for only few decades. In addition, even though cancer cells can theoretically display highly sophisticated adaptive responses, it would be crucial to determine the frequency of their occurrence in patients with cancer, before therapeutic applications can be considered. Scientists who try to explain oncogenesis will need in the future to critically evaluate the metaphorical comparison of selective processes affecting cancerous cells with those affecting organisms. This approach seems essential for the applications of evolutionary biology to understand the origin of cancers, with prophylactic and therapeutic applications.
authors.affiliation: MIVEGEC, UMR IRD/CNRS/UM 5290 Montpellier Cedex 5, France ; CREEC Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arnal
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Waurn Ponds, Vic., Australia.
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ujvari
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University Burnaby, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crespi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Gatenby
authors.affiliation: MIVEGEC, UMR IRD/CNRS/UM 5290 Montpellier Cedex 5, France ; CREEC Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Tazzio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tissot
authors.affiliation: MIVEGEC, UMR IRD/CNRS/UM 5290 Montpellier Cedex 5, France ; CREEC Montpellier Cedex 5, France ; Centre de Recherche de la Tour du Valat, Arles France.
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vittecoq
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and the Program on Disease Evolution, University of Louisville Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Paul W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Ewald
authors.affiliation: Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Andreu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casali
authors.affiliation: MIVEGEC, UMR IRD/CNRS/UM 5290 Montpellier Cedex 5, France ; CREEC Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ducasse
authors.affiliation: MIVEGEC, UMR IRD/CNRS/UM 5290 Montpellier Cedex 5, France ; CREEC Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Camille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jacqueline
authors.affiliation: MIVEGEC, UMR IRD/CNRS/UM 5290 Montpellier Cedex 5, France ; CREEC Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Dorothée
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Missé
authors.affiliation: MIVEGEC, UMR IRD/CNRS/UM 5290 Montpellier Cedex 5, France ; CREEC Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Renaud
authors.affiliation: MIVEGEC, UMR IRD/CNRS/UM 5290 Montpellier Cedex 5, France ; CREEC Montpellier Cedex 5, France ; International Center for Mathematical and Computational Modelling of Complex Systems (UMI IRD/UPMC UMMISCO) Bondy Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roche
authors.affiliation: MIVEGEC, UMR IRD/CNRS/UM 5290 Montpellier Cedex 5, France ; CREEC Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Thomas
keywords: adaptationism; cancer; evolutionary processes