title: Clonal cooperativity in heterogenous cancers.
abstract: Tumor heterogeneity is a major obstacle to the development of effective therapies and is thus an important focus of cancer research. Genetic and epigenetic alterations, as well as altered tumor microenvironments, result in tumors made up of diverse subclones with different genetic and phenotypic characteristics. Intratumor heterogeneity enables competition, but also supports clonal cooperation via cell-cell contact or secretion of factors, resulting in enhanced tumor progression. Here, we summarize recent findings related to interclonal interactions within a tumor and the therapeutic implications of such interactions, with an emphasis on how different subclones collaborate with each other to promote proliferation, metastasis and therapy-resistance. Furthermore, we propose that disruption of clonal cooperation by targeting key factors (such as Wnt and Hedgehog, amongst others) can be an alternative approach to improving clinical outcomes.
authors: Program in Cancer Biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 12800 East 19th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045, United States.
authors: Hengbo
authors: H
authors: Zhou
authors: Program in Molecular Biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 12800 East 19th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045, United States.
authors: Deepika
authors: D
authors: Neelakantan
authors: Program in Cancer Biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 12800 East 19th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045, United States; Program in Molecular Biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 12800 East 19th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045, United States; Department of Pharmacology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, 12800 East 19th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045, United States. Electronic address: heide.ford@ucdenver.edu.
authors: Heide L
authors: HL
authors: Ford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002999:Clone Cells; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy
keywords: Clonal cooperativity; Epithelial to mesenchymal transition; Metastasis; Tumor heterogeneity