Ecology and Evolution of Cancer

Beata Ujvari, Benjamin Roche, Frederic Thomas

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780128043103
• eBook ISBN: 9780128043806
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Immunology

Ecology and Evolution of Cancer is a timely work outlining ideas that not only represent a substantial and original contribution to the fields of evolution, ecology, and cancer, but also goes beyond by connecting the interfaces of these disciplines. This work engages the expertise of a multidisciplinary research team to collate and review the latest knowledge and developments in this exciting research field.The evolutionary perspective of cancer has gained significant international recognition and interest, which is fully understandable given that somatic cellular selection and evolution are elegant explanations for carcinogenesis. Cancer is now generally accepted to be an evolutionary and ecological process with complex interactions between tumor cells and their environment sharing many similarities with organismal evolution. As a critical contribution to this field of research the book is important and relevant for the applications of evolutionary biology to understand the origin of cancers, to control neoplastic progression, and to prevent therapeutic failures.- Covers all aspects of the evolution of cancer, appealing to researchers seeking to understand its origins and effects of treatments on its progression, as well as to lecturers in evolutionary medicine- Functions as both an introduction to cancer and evolution and a review of the current research on this burgeoning, exciting field, presented by an international group of leading editors and contributors- Improves understanding of the origin and the evolution of cancer, aiding efforts to determine how this disease interferes with biotic interactions that govern ecosystems- Highlights research that intends to apply evolutionary principles to help predict emergence and metastatic progression with the aim of improving therapies

Chapter 1

The Evolutionary Origins of Cancer and of Its Control by Immune Policing and Genetic Suppression

Leonard Nunney Department of Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States

Abstract

Cancer is a disease of multicellular animals that arises from conflicting effects of natural selection acting at the cellular and individual levels. Over the long term, this conflict can be resolved in favor of individuals through the evolution of cancer suppression (e.g., by tumor suppressor genes) and/or policing (by the immune system) as a result of lineage selection. Our understanding of the role of immune policing in cancer prevention is reviewed in light of the recent surge of interest in immunotherapy; however, it is argued that cancer suppression is likely to be the major mechanism limiting cancer in nature. Predictions regarding the evolution of cancer suppression, derived from a simple model of multistage carcinogenesis, are discussed. These predictions combined with the success of a recent study of rodents suggest that comparative analyses of animal clades differing in size and longevity may provide important insight into novel mechanisms of cancer suppression.

Keywords

adaptation

multistage carcinogenesis

lineage selection

Peto’s paradox

immunotherapy

tumor suppressor genes

Cancer is a malignant growth of cells capable of invading other tissues. As such, cancer is a disease of multicellular organisms and disrupts organismal function so severely that it is generally fatal. Based on this definition, cancer is restricted to animals because the cell walls of plants, algae, and fungi prevent cellular invasion (Doonan and Sablowski, 2010). In contrast, “benign” tumors, which do not invade other tissues, are relatively common across multicellular life and are generally not life-threatening, although by virtue of their location or abundance, their growth can cause serious problems, including death. However, sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish malignant and nonmalignant forms, leading to a category of “cancer-like” tumors (Aktipis et al., 2015). For example, crown galls, which are bacteria-induced benign tumors of plants, can produce secondary tumors nearby, but these additional tumors are due to a diffusible factor rather than cell movement (White, 1951; White and Braun, 1942). Despite these distinctions, an understanding of such noncancerous tumors can provide valuable insight into the unregulated cell division that is a prerequisite of all cancers.

Multicellularity is one of the major transitions of life (Maynard Smith and Szathmary, 1995), creating individual organisms, each made up of a “society” of cells that persists for a significant period of time and within which there is a division of labor between cells that are reproductive (in the sense that they contribute directly to the next generation of individuals) and nonreproductive cells. In animals, this division corresponds to the germline versus the soma. A critical component in the origin of such a society is the evolution of reproductive altruism in the cells that are nonreproductive. These cells can transmit only copies of their genes to future genera...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• List of Contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Five Evolutionary Principles for Understanding Cancer
• Chapter 1: The Evolutionary Origins of Cancer and of Its Control by Immune Policing and Genetic Suppression
• Chapter 2: Cancer Prevalence and Etiology in Wild and Captive Animals
• Chapter 3: Infection and Cancer in Nature
• Chapter 4: Pseudohypoxia: Life at the Edge
• Chapter 5: The Genomic Landscape of Cancers
• Chapter 6: The Epigenetic Component in Cancer Evolution
• Chapter 7: Evolution of Cancer Defense Mechanisms Across Species
• Chapter 8: Coevolution of Tumor Cells and Their Microenvironment: “Niche Construction in Cancer”
• Chapter 9: Evolutionary Perspective of Tumorigenesis and Antitumor Immunity: A Comparative Approach
• Chapter 10: The Response of Cancer Cell Populations to Therapies
• Chapter 11: Ecology of the Metastatic Process
• Chapter 12: Transmissible Cancer: The Evolution of Interindividual Metastasis
• Chapter 13: Cancer in Animals: Reciprocal Feedbacks Between Evolution of Cancer Resistance and Ecosystem Functioning
• Chapter 14: Applying Tools From Evolutionary Biology to Cancer Research
• Section: Perspectives
• Chapter 23: Ecology, Evolution, and the Cancer Patient
• Index