title: Chromothripsis in cancer cells: An update.
abstract: In 2011, a novel form of genome instability was reported by Stephens et al., characterized by tens to hundreds of locally clustered rearrangements affecting one or a few chromosome(s) in cancer cells. This phenomenon, termed chromothripsis, is likely due to a single catastrophic event leading to the simultaneous formation of multiple double-strand breaks, which are repaired by error-prone mechanisms. Since then, the occurrence of chromothripsis was detected in a wide range of tumor entities. In this review, we will discuss potential mechanisms of chromothripsis initiation in cancer and outline the prevalence of chromothripsis across entities. Furthermore, we will examine how chromothriptic events may promote cancer development and how they may affect cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Agata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rode
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Kendra Korinna
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Maass
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Karolin Viktoria
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Willmund
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lichter
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ernst
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy
keywords: catastrophic genomic rearrangement; chromothripsis; genome instability