4 Topic Commentaries

Your Genes May Shape Tumor Evolution

Your Genes May Shape Tumor Evolution

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  Sarah J. Aitken, MBChB, PhD, FRCPath

  Pathology

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  Yale School of Medicine

  It looks like the genetics influence the ability for the cancer to arise in the first place, for the mutations to happen, and also for how a tumor then evolves in a particular individual and responds to treatment.

  Source
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  Christina Curtis, PhD, MSc

  Cancer genomics

  •

  Stanford University School of Medicine

  Rather, we find that the path to tumor development is constrained by hereditary factors and immunity. This new result unearths a new class of biomarkers to forecast tumor progression and an entirely new way of understanding breast cancer origins.

  Source
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  Jian Carrot-Zhang, PhD

  Computational oncology

  •

  Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

  Since many of the tumor genetic changes we studied are already used to guide treatment decisions, understanding how inherited genetics influence these changes could open new doors for more personalized cancer care.

  Source
• 

  Robert B. Jenkins, MD, PhD

  Medical genetics and pathology

  •

  Mayo Clinic

  While we understand much of the biologic function of germline alterations within genes that code for proteins, we know very little about the biologic function of germline alterations outside of genes that code for proteins. In some way, these germline alterations interact with other mutations in cells to accelerate tumor formation.

  Source