The evolution and ecology of benign tumors

Mutation or not, what directly establishes a neoplastic state, namely cellular immortality and autonomy, still remains unknown and should be prioritized in our research

“…Future mechanistic research should be devoted to identifying the abovementioned "immediate tumor-causing factors". Very benign tumors may have many fewer alterations and thus be much simpler and better models than malignant ones for this line of research [701,702]. Future therapeutic research should be focused on identifying the extracellular and intracellular factors (such as embryonic ones) that control tumor cells' phenotypes and on establishing approaches or drugs that can revert cancer cells to a differentiated state, either maturation or metaplasia.…”

From developmental to atavistic bet‐hedging: How cancer cells pervert the exploitation of random single‐cell phenotypic fluctuations

“…Since the late Precambrian, multicellularity evolved independently on multiple occasions, but each time it required that the newly evolved multicellular phenotypes had the ability to control their cellular proliferation. [69,70] The achievement of this fundamental condition was not incompatible with the presence of high levels of stochasticity in gene expression, and it provided mechanisms that could subsequently constrain gene expression patterns to a certain homogenization during differentiation. As a form of collateral effect, it is increasingly argued that tumorigenesis could be initiated by disrupting constraints that canalize cells towards their stable phenotypic state, yielding a form of cellular speciation relying on increased cellular stochasticity.…”

Cancer Susceptibility as a Cost of Reproduction and Contributor to Life History Evolution

“…There are more than 100 types of cancer (grouped into five major categories: carcinoma, sarcoma, myeloma, leukemia, and lymphoma) that can affect almost every part of the body (Weinberg, 2007). In addition to malignant tumors, multicellular organisms often harbor benign neoplasms (Boutry et al, 2022b). Benign neoplasms have received less attention than malignant tumors because they have less often obvious and serious impacts on the patient/host health, even if noticeable exceptions exist (see Boutry et al, 2022b for a recent synthesis).…”

“…In addition to malignant tumors, multicellular organisms often harbor benign neoplasms (Boutry et al, 2022b). Benign neoplasms have received less attention than malignant tumors because they have less often obvious and serious impacts on the patient/host health, even if noticeable exceptions exist (see Boutry et al, 2022b for a recent synthesis).…”