New view of tumors’ evolution
Cancer cells undergo extensive genetic alterations as they grow and spread through the body. Some of these mutations, known as “drivers,” help spur cells to grow out of control, while others (“passengers”) are merely along for the ride.MIT cancer biologists at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and geneticists from the Broad Institute have now performed the most comprehensive analysis to date of these changes in mice programmed to develop cancer. The team discovered mutations and other genetic disturbances that arise at certain stages of lung cancer development; the researchers were also able to identify tumor cells that broke free to spread to other organs.The findings, described in the March 13 issue of Cell, suggest possible new targets for drugs for this aggressive form of cancer, known as small cell lung cancer. There are now very few targeted drugs for small cell lung cancer, a highly lethal form of...