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Cell biology

Developmental predisposition to cancer

Nature volume 422, page 494 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Many human cancers occur in renewing epithelial tissues, in which cellular lineages typically go through two distinct phases: early in life, cell populations expand exponentially to form the tissue, and for the remainder of life, the tissue is renewed by stem cells dividing to create an almost linear cellular history1. Here we use a simple mathematical model to show that mutations that arise during the exponential phase probably seed tissues with stem cells carrying mutations that may predispose to cancer. Susceptibility to late-life cancers, such as those of the skin and colon, may therefore be influenced by somatic mutations that occur during early development.

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Figure 1: The role of tissue architecture in the accumulation of mutations during development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, 92697-2525, California, USA

    Steven A. Frank

  2. Institute for Advanced Study, Einstein Drive, Princeton, 08540, New Jersey, USA

    Martin A. Nowak

Authors
  1. Steven A. Frank
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  2. Martin A. Nowak
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Correspondence to Steven A. Frank.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Frank, S., Nowak, M. Developmental predisposition to cancer. Nature 422, 494 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/422494a

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