Featured Publications
Molecular Biology and Evolution of Cancer: From Discovery to Action
Somarelli JA, Gardner H, Cannataro VL, Gunady EF, Boddy AM, Johnson NA, Fisk J, Gaffney SG, Chuang JH, Li S, Ciccarelli FD, Panchenko AR, Megquier K, Kumar S, Dornburg A, DeGregori J, Townsend JP. Molecular Biology and Evolution of Cancer: From Discovery to Action. Molecular Biology And Evolution 2019, 37: 320-326. PMID: 31642480, PMCID: PMC6993850, DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz242.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsConceptsEvolutionary processesMolecular evolutionary processesEvolution of cancerCancer cell populationsEcological nichesNew therapeutic modesCancer evolutionEcological theoryMolecular biologyCancer biologyCancer progressionSuite of conceptsCell populationsBiologyNicheEvolutionCirculatory systemDeeper understandingDiscoveryCancer
2021
The somatic molecular evolution of cancer: Mutation, selection, and epistasis
Dasari K, Somarelli JA, Kumar S, Townsend JP. The somatic molecular evolution of cancer: Mutation, selection, and epistasis. Progress In Biophysics And Molecular Biology 2021, 165: 56-65. PMID: 34364910, PMCID: PMC8819680, DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2021.08.003.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsCancer evolutionEpistatic interactionsNeutral mutation rateCancer progressionEvolution of neoplasmsSingle nucleotide variantsMolecular evolutionRate of fixationGenetic interactionsEvolutionary biologyPhylogenetic analysisCopy number aberrationsPhylogenetic relationsNeutral mutationsGenomic dataSelective pressureSynonymous mutationsMutation rateChromosomal instabilityPhenotypic changesLoss of heterozygosityFitness landscapeClonal deconvolutionTumor microenvironmentEnvironment interaction
2016
PhyloOncology: Understanding cancer through phylogenetic analysis
Somarelli JA, Ware KE, Kostadinov R, Robinson JM, Amri H, Abu-Asab M, Fourie N, Diogo R, Swofford D, Townsend JP. PhyloOncology: Understanding cancer through phylogenetic analysis. Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Reviews On Cancer 2016, 1867: 101-108. PMID: 27810337, PMCID: PMC9583457, DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2016.10.006.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsMeSH KeywordsAdaptation, PhysiologicalAlgorithmsAnimalsBiomarkers, TumorCell Transformation, NeoplasticEvolution, MolecularGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticGenetic FitnessGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseGenomicsHeredityHumansModels, GeneticMutationNeoplasmsPedigreePhenotypePhylogenySignal TransductionSystems BiologyTime FactorsConceptsDr. Robert A. GatenbyGenome-scale dataSystems biology approachPowerful systems biology approachUse of phylogeneticsPhylogenetic analysisBiology approachPhylogenetic applicationsSubclonal evolutionCancer biologyCancer progressionSuite of algorithmsPhylogeneticsCancer data setsCancer samplesImproved therapeutic interventionRobust approachDecades of researchFundamental insightsNew toolBiologyDiverse fieldsGatenbyData setsTherapeutic interventionsEarly and multiple origins of metastatic lineages within primary tumors
Zhao ZM, Zhao B, Bai Y, Iamarino A, Gaffney SG, Schlessinger J, Lifton RP, Rimm DL, Townsend JP. Early and multiple origins of metastatic lineages within primary tumors. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2016, 113: 2140-2145. PMID: 26858460, PMCID: PMC4776530, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1525677113.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsMetastatic lineagesGenetic changesEarly genetic divergenceMolecular evolutionary modelsSingle genetic changeDivergent lineagesTumor phylogeneticsDivergence timesAncestral stateGenetic divergenceCancer lineagesPhylogenetic analysisEvolutionary processesLineagesCancer evolutionMultiple originsDriver genesCancer biologyCancer progressionSomatic mutationsTumor developmentEvolutionary modelsDriver mutationsChronogramMutations