Fig. 1: The evolutionary play and ecological stages in cancer development.
From: Parallel and convergent dynamics in the evolution of primary breast and lung adenocarcinomas
The cell population in normal tissue has limited opportunities to evolve as the fates of individual cells are determined by tissue control. Initially, cancer evolution occurs on the ecological “stage” of normal tissue. Transition to somatic evolution requires severing tissue controls so that the cell’s fate is determined by its own fitness in the context of its environment. Cancer cells initially increase their fitness by ceasing differentiated tissue functions that consume resources while not increasing the probability of survival and proliferation. Subsequently, similar co-adapted traits show broad convergence among different cancer types including transition to a highly modified and engineered ecological stage.
