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The Hallmarks of Cancer as Ecologically Driven Phenotypes.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Somarelli, JA
Published in: Front Ecol Evol
April 2021

Ecological fitness is the ability of individuals in a population to survive and reproduce. Individuals with increased fitness are better equipped to withstand the selective pressures of their environments. This paradigm pertains to all organismal life as we know it; however, it is also becoming increasingly clear that within multicellular organisms exist highly complex, competitive, and cooperative populations of cells under many of the same ecological and evolutionary constraints as populations of individuals in nature. In this review I discuss the parallels between populations of cancer cells and populations of individuals in the wild, highlighting how individuals in either context are constrained by their environments to converge on a small number of critical phenotypes to ensure survival and future reproductive success. I argue that the hallmarks of cancer can be distilled into key phenotypes necessary for cancer cell fitness: survival and reproduction. I posit that for therapeutic strategies to be maximally beneficial, they should seek to subvert these ecologically driven phenotypic responses.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

Front Ecol Evol

DOI

ISSN

2296-701X

Publication Date

April 2021

Volume

9

Location

Switzerland

Related Subject Headings

  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3104 Evolutionary biology
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 0603 Evolutionary Biology
  • 0602 Ecology
 

Citation

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Somarelli, J. A. (2021). The Hallmarks of Cancer as Ecologically Driven Phenotypes. Front Ecol Evol, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.661583
Somarelli, Jason A. “The Hallmarks of Cancer as Ecologically Driven Phenotypes.Front Ecol Evol 9 (April 2021). https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.661583.
Somarelli JA. The Hallmarks of Cancer as Ecologically Driven Phenotypes. Front Ecol Evol. 2021 Apr;9.
Somarelli, Jason A. “The Hallmarks of Cancer as Ecologically Driven Phenotypes.Front Ecol Evol, vol. 9, Apr. 2021. Pubmed, doi:10.3389/fevo.2021.661583.
Somarelli JA. The Hallmarks of Cancer as Ecologically Driven Phenotypes. Front Ecol Evol. 2021 Apr;9.

Published In

Front Ecol Evol

DOI

ISSN

2296-701X

Publication Date

April 2021

Volume

9

Location

Switzerland

Related Subject Headings

  • 4102 Ecological applications
  • 3104 Evolutionary biology
  • 3103 Ecology
  • 0603 Evolutionary Biology
  • 0602 Ecology