AI Article Synopsis
- Cancer arises from the ability of individual cells to act against the collective interests of the organism, highlighting inherent vulnerabilities in multicellular life.
- Recent research using single-cell transcriptomics shows that different cancer types exhibit a range of flexible cell states that reflect their developmental origins.
- The authors propose a model suggesting that these cancer cell states are influenced by the organism's developmental pathways, leading to varied interactions that shape tumor behavior.
Article Abstract
Cancer is a disease that stems from a fundamental liability inherent to multicellular life forms in which an individual cell is capable of reneging on the interests of the collective organism. Although cancer is commonly described as an evolutionary process, a less appreciated aspect of tumorigenesis may be the constraints imposed by the organism's developmental programs. Recent work from single-cell transcriptomic analyses across a range of cancer types has revealed the recurrence, plasticity, and co-option of distinct cellular states among cancer cell populations. Here, we note that across diverse cancer types, the observed cell states are proximate within the developmental hierarchy of the cell of origin. We thus posit a model by which cancer cell states are directly constrained by the organism's "developmental map." According to this model, a population of cancer cells traverses the developmental map, thereby generating a heterogeneous set of states whose interactions underpin emergent tumor behavior.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11256907 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.04.032 | DOI Listing |
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