title: Human Cancers Express a Mutator Phenotype: Hypothesis, Origin, and Consequences.
abstract: The mutator phenotype hypothesis was postulated more than 40 years ago. It was based on the multiple enzymatic steps required to precisely replicate the 6 billion bases in the human genome each time a normal cell divides. A reduction in this accuracy during tumor progression could be responsible for the striking heterogeneity of malignant cells within a tumor and for the rapidity by which cancers become resistant to therapy. Cancer Res; 76(8); 2057-9. ©2016 AACRSee related article by Loeb et al. Cancer Res. 1974;34:2311-21.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington. Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington. laloeb@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Lawrence A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Loeb
mesh_terms: D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D010641:Phenotype