Evolution of cancer suppression as revealed by mammalian comparative genomics.
Cancer suppression is an important feature in the evolution of large and long-lived animals. While some tumor suppression pathways are conserved among all multicellular organisms, others mechanisms of cancer resistance are uniquely lineage specific. Comparative genomics has become a powerful tool to discover these unique and shared molecular adaptations in respect to cancer suppression. These findings may one day be translated to human patients through evolutionary medicine. Here, we will review theory and methods of comparative cancer genomics and highlight major findings of cancer suppression across mammals. Our current knowledge of cancer genomics suggests that more efficient DNA repair and higher sensitivity to DNA damage may be the key to tumor suppression in large or long-lived mammals.
Virginia C. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, 1001 S McAllister Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281, United States; School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, 427 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, United States.
Marc
M
Tollis
Departments of Pediatrics and Oncological Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, 2000 Circle of Hope, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, United States. Electronic address: joshua.schiffman@hci.utah.edu.
Joshua D
JD
Schiffman
Virginia C. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, 1001 S McAllister Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281, United States.
Amy M
AM
Boddy
D000818:Animals; D063646:Carcinogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000235:genetics; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology