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Comment
. 2010 Nov;3(11):1361-4.
doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-10-0234. Epub 2010 Oct 19.

The origins and implications of intratumor heterogeneity

Franziska Michor  1 , Kornelia Polyak
Affiliations
Comment

The origins and implications of intratumor heterogeneity

Franziska Michor et al. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2010 Nov.

Abstract

Human tumors often display startling intratumor heterogeneity in various features including histology, gene expression, genotype, and metastatic and proliferative potential. This phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity plays an important role in neoplasia, cancer progression, and therapeutic resistance. In this issue of the journal (beginning on page 1388), Merlo et al. report their use of molecular data from 239 patients with Barrett's esophagus to evaluate the propensity of major diversity indices for predicting progression to esophageal adenocarcinoma. This work helps elucidate the implications of molecular heterogeneity for the evolution of neoplasia.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

K. Polyak receives research support from Novartis Oncology, holds stocks in Aveo Pharmaceuticals Inc., is a consultant to Novartis Oncology, and serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Metamark Genetics Inc. and Theracrine Inc.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Emergence and maintenance of tumor diversity. Cancer cell diversity arises both from the differentiation of cancer stem cells (parallel horizontal arrows) and the accumulation of mutations in cancer stem cells (vertical arrows) and transit-amplifying cells (diverging arrows). Unless a mutation conferring self-renewal capabilities arises in a transit-amplifying cell, genetic changes emerging in those cells are unable to persist in the population and will disappear.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

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