Recently several authors described a family of models, according to which different cancer types and subtypes fall within a space of selective trade-offs between archetypes that maximize the performance of different tasks: cell division, biomass and energy production, lipogenesis, immune interaction, and invasion and tissue remodeling. On this picture, inter- and intratumor heterogeneity can be explained in part as a product of these selective trade-offs in different cancers, at different stages of cancer progression. The aim of this Perspective is to critically assess this approach. I use this case study to consider more generally both the advantages of using ecological models in the context of cancer, and the challenges facing testing of such models.
CITATION STYLE
Plutynski, A. (2021). Testing Multi-Task Cancer Evolution: How Do We Test Ecological Hypotheses in Cancer? Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.666262
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