Evolution of an Individual's Cancer Can Be Tracked Cell by Cell

Quanta (Find original story here).

Tumor Cells: Cells from the same tumor have different genetic profiles: green are normal, red cells have copies of two other cancer genes and yellow have three copies of a cancer-linked gene. Image: Navin et al. Genome Research 2010

From Quanta (Find original story here).

In August, when a group of physicians writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association proposed that some precancerous conditions should no longer be labeled as cancer, the recommendation was supported by studies showing that advances in the detection of these conditions haven’t reduced the incidence of invasive cancers. Indeed, precancerous conditions such as ductal carcinoma in situ — abnormal cells in part of the breast that have not spread — can progress to cancer but often don’t, raising questions about how aggressively to treat them. The larger issue is that physicians don’t yet have a reliable way to distinguish precancerous cases that will remain harmless from those that will become invasive.

Keep reading on Scientific American >>