Identifying key questions in the ecology and evolution of cancer.
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Date
2021-02-08ICR Author
Author
Dujon, AM
Aktipis, A
Alix-Panabières, C
Amend, SR
Boddy, AM
Brown, JS
Capp, J-P
DeGregori, J
Ewald, P
Gatenby, R
Gerlinger, M
Giraudeau, M
Hamede, RK
Hansen, E
Kareva, I
Maley, CC
Marusyk, A
McGranahan, N
Metzger, MJ
Nedelcu, AM
Noble, R
Nunney, L
Pienta, KJ
Polyak, K
Pujol, P
Read, AF
Roche, B
Sebens, S
Solary, E
Staňková, K
Swain Ewald, H
Thomas, F
Ujvari, B
Type
Journal Article
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The application of evolutionary and ecological principles to cancer prevention and treatment, as well as recognizing cancer as a selection force in nature, has gained impetus over the last 50 years. Following the initial theoretical approaches that combined knowledge from interdisciplinary fields, it became clear that using the eco-evolutionary framework is of key importance to understand cancer. We are now at a pivotal point where accumulating evidence starts to steer the future directions of the discipline and allows us to underpin the key challenges that remain to be addressed. Here, we aim to assess current advancements in the field and to suggest future directions for research. First, we summarize cancer research areas that, so far, have assimilated ecological and evolutionary principles into their approaches and illustrate their key importance. Then, we assembled 33 experts and identified 84 key questions, organized around nine major themes, to pave the foundations for research to come. We highlight the urgent need for broadening the portfolio of research directions to stimulate novel approaches at the interface of oncology and ecological and evolutionary sciences. We conclude that progressive and efficient cross-disciplinary collaborations that draw on the expertise of the fields of ecology, evolution and cancer are essential in order to efficiently address current and future questions about cancer.
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Subject
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Evolutionary Biology
cancer therapy
contemporary evolution
evolutionary medicine
genetics
neoplasm
species interactions
Research team
Translational Oncogenomics
Translational Oncogenomics
Language
eng
Date accepted
2020-12-26
License start date
2021-02-08
Citation
EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS, 2021, pp. ? - ? (16)
Publisher
WILEY