Tumour reasons why cancers thrive in chromosomal chaos

Oct 27, 2021

New Delhi, Oct 27 (ANI): Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health describe how a pair of fundamental genetic and cellular processes are exploited by cancer cells to promote tumour survival and growth. The findings appear in the journal European Molecular Biology Organisation. Cancer is driven by multiple types of genetic alterations, including DNA mutations and copy number alterations ranging in scale from small insertions and deletions to whole-genome duplication events. Collectively, somatic copy number alterations in tumours frequently result in an abnormal number of chromosomes, termed aneuploidy, which has been shown to promote tumour development by increasing genetic diversity, instability, and evolution.