Cancer RNome: Nature & Evolution

Cancer RNome: Nature & Evolution PDF

Author: Mansi Arora

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-11-02

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 981131568X

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In the last decade, researchers working in the field of cancer biology have shifted their focus from genetic defects to epigenetic dysregulation, especially that of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). This book encompasses a comprehensive review of the transcriptional landscape of the cell and its involvement in the cancer pathophysiology. The first two chapters elucidate the basics of biosynthesis, mechanism of action and modulation of the epigenetic regulation of gene expression by coding as well as non-coding RNAs. The third chapter discusses the aberrant expression of the cellular RNome in the cancer cells and highlights its role in the orchestration of processes involved in evolution as well as the sustenance of cancer cells. The fourth chapter describes the recent advances in the field of translating the transcriptome into diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers and as targets for novel anti-cancer therapies. The final chapter then reviews the emerging experimental approaches to screen, identify and explore the functions of ncRNAs. Providing valuable insights into the field of RNome in the context of cancer, this book is helpful to students, researchers and clinicians..

Cancer through the Lens of Evolution and Ecology

Cancer through the Lens of Evolution and Ecology PDF

Author: Jason A. Somarelli

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2024-05-29

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 1040027687

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Cancer cells exist in an ever-changing “ecology” and are subject to evolutionary pressures just like any species in nature. This edited book explores the following themes: 1) how the dynamics of mutation, epigenetics, and gene expression noise are sources of genetic diversity; 2) how scarce resources influence cancer therapy resistance; 3) how predator-prey dynamics are mirrored in immune-cancer cross-talk; 4) how cancer cells parallel niche construction theory; 5) how changing fitness landscapes enable cancer growth; and 6) how cancer cells interact within the body. The book is a resource for understanding cancer as a disease of multicellularity grounded in evolutionary principles. By using this knowledge, researchers are starting to exploit these behaviors for treatment paradigms. Key Features Bridges disciplines exemplifying the ways disparate fields create new perspectives when integrated. Offers insights from leading scholars in cancer biology, ecology and evolutionary biology. Provides a timely recognition by oncologists that evolutionary paradigms are crucial for breakthroughs in cancer treatment. Integrates basic and applied sciences of oncology and evolutionary biology.

Ecology and Evolution of Cancer

Ecology and Evolution of Cancer PDF

Author: Beata Ujvari

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2017-02-08

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 0128043806

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Ecology and Evolution of Cancer is a timely work outlining ideas that not only represent a substantial and original contribution to the fields of evolution, ecology, and cancer, but also goes beyond by connecting the interfaces of these disciplines. This work engages the expertise of a multidisciplinary research team to collate and review the latest knowledge and developments in this exciting research field. The evolutionary perspective of cancer has gained significant international recognition and interest, which is fully understandable given that somatic cellular selection and evolution are elegant explanations for carcinogenesis. Cancer is now generally accepted to be an evolutionary and ecological process with complex interactions between tumor cells and their environment sharing many similarities with organismal evolution. As a critical contribution to this field of research the book is important and relevant for the applications of evolutionary biology to understand the origin of cancers, to control neoplastic progression, and to prevent therapeutic failures. Covers all aspects of the evolution of cancer, appealing to researchers seeking to understand its origins and effects of treatments on its progression, as well as to lecturers in evolutionary medicine Functions as both an introduction to cancer and evolution and a review of the current research on this burgeoning, exciting field, presented by an international group of leading editors and contributors Improves understanding of the origin and the evolution of cancer, aiding efforts to determine how this disease interferes with biotic interactions that govern ecosystems Highlights research that intends to apply evolutionary principles to help predict emergence and metastatic progression with the aim of improving therapies

Cancer Evolution

Cancer Evolution PDF

Author: Charles Swanton

Publisher: Perspectives Cshl

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 9781621821434

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Tumor progression is driven by mutations that confer growth advantages to different subpopulations of cancer cells. As a tumor grows, these subpopulations expand, accumulate new mutations, and are subjected to selective pressures from the environment, including anticancer interventions. This process, termed clonal evolution, can lead to the emergence of therapy-resistant tumors and poses a major challenge for cancer eradication efforts. Written and edited by experts in the field, this collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine examines cancer progression as an evolutionary process and explores how this way of looking at cancer may lead to more effective strategies for managing and treating it. The contributors review efforts to characterize the subclonal architecture and dynamics of tumors, understand the roles of chromosomal instability, driver mutations, and mutation order, and determine how cancer cells respond to selective pressures imposed by anticancer agents, immune cells, and other components of the tumor microenvironment. They compare cancer evolution to organismal evolution and describe how ecological theories and mathematical models are being used to understand the complex dynamics between a tumor and its microenvironment during cancer progression. The authors also discuss improved methods to monitor tumor evolution (e.g., liquid biopsies) and the development of more effective strategies for managing and treating cancers (e.g., immunotherapies). This volume will therefore serve as a vital reference for all cancer biologists as well as anyone seeking to improve clinical outcomes for patients with cancer.

Rethinking Cancer

Rethinking Cancer PDF

Author: Bernhard Strauss

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2021-04-27

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 0262045214

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Leading scientists argue for a new paradigm for cancer research, proposing a complex systems view of cancer supported by empirical evidence. Current consensus in cancer research explains cancer as a disease caused by specific mutations in certain genes. After dramatic advances in genome sequencing, never before have we known so much about the individual cancer cell--and yet never before has it been so unclear what to do with this knowledge. In this volume, leading researchers argue for a new theory framework for understanding and treating cancer. The contributors propose a complex systems view of cancer, presenting conceptual building blocks for a new research paradigm supported by empirical evidence. The contributors first discuss the new research framework in terms of theoretical foundations and then take up the relevance of a systems approach, reviewing such topics as nonlinearity, recurrence after treatment, the cellular attractor concept, network theory, and non-coding DNA--the "dark matter" of our genome. They address the temporality of cancer progression, drawing on evolutionary theory and clinical experience. Finally, they cover the dominant role of the tissue microenvironment in cancer, analyzing topics including altered metabolic pathways, the disease-defining influence on metastasis, and the interconnectedness of different environmental niches across levels of organization.

Philosophy of Cancer

Philosophy of Cancer PDF

Author: Marta Bertolaso

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-08-24

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 9402408657

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Since the 1970s, the origin of cancer is being explored from the point of view of the Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT), focusing on genetic mutations and clonal expansion of somatic cells. As cancer research expanded in several directions, the dominant focus on cells remained steady, but the classes of genes and the kinds of extra-genetic factors that were shown to have causal relevance in the onset of cancer multiplied. The wild heterogeneity of cancer-related mutations and phenotypes, along with the increasing complication of models, led to an oscillation between the hectic search of ‘the’ few key factors that cause cancer and the discouragement in face of a seeming ‘endless complexity’. To tame this complexity, cancer research started to avail itself of the tools that were being developed by Systems Biology. At the same time, anti-reductionist voices began claiming that cancer research was stuck in a sterile research paradigm. This alternative discourse even gave birth to an alternative theory: the Tissue Organization Field Theory (TOFT). A deeper philosophical analysis shows limits and possibilities of reductionist and anti-reductionist positions and of their polarization. This book demonstrates that a radical philosophical reflection is necessary to drive cancer research out of its impasses. At the very least, this will be a reflection on the assumptions of different kinds of cancer research, on the implications of what cancer research has been discovering over 40 years and more, on a view of scientific practice that is most able to make sense of the cognitive and social conflicts that are seen in the scientific community (and in its results), and, finally, on the nature of living entities with which we entertain this fascinating epistemological dance that we call scientific research. The proposed Dynamic and Relational View of carcinogenesis is a starting point in all these directions.

Explaining Cancer

Explaining Cancer PDF

Author: Anya Plutynski

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-07-18

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0190904585

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In Explaining Cancer, Anya Plutynski addresses a variety of philosophical questions that arise in the context of cancer science and medicine. She begins with the following concerns: · How do scientists classify cancer? Do these classifications reflect nature's "joints"? · How do cancer scientists identify and classify early stage cancers? · What does it mean to say that cancer is a "genetic" disease? What role do genes play in "mechanisms for" cancer? · What are the most important environmental causes of cancer, and how do epidemiologists investigate these causes? · How exactly has our evolutionary history made us vulnerable to cancer? Explaining Cancer uses these questions as an entrée into a family of philosophical debates. It uses case studies of scientific practice to reframe philosophical debates about natural classification in science and medicine, the problem of drawing the line between disease and health, mechanistic reasoning in science, pragmatics and evidence, the roles of models and modeling in science, and the nature of scientific explanation.

Single-stranded RNA phages

Single-stranded RNA phages PDF

Author: Paul Pumpens

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2020-02-03

Total Pages: 616

ISBN-13: 042967290X

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This is a comprehensive guide to single-stranded RNA phages (family Leviviridae), first discovered in 1961. These phages played a unique role in early studies of molecular biology, the genetic code, translation, replication, suppression of mutations. Special attention is devoted to modern applications of the RNA phages and their products in nanotechnology, vaccinology, gene discovery, evolutionary and environmental studies. Included is an overview of the generation of novel vaccines, gene therapy vectors, drug delivery, and diagnostic tools exploring the role of RNA phage-derived products in the revolutionary progress of the protein tethering and bioimaging protocols. Key Features Presents the first full guide to single-stranded RNA phages Reviews the history of molecular biology summarizing the role RNA phages in the development of the life sciences Demonstrates how RNA phage-derived products have resulted in nanotechnological applications Presents an up-to-date account of the role played by RNA phages in evolutionary and environmental studies

Applied Bioinformatics

Applied Bioinformatics PDF

Author: Paul Maria Selzer

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-01-18

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 3540728007

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At last, here is a baseline book for anyone who is confused by cryptic computer programs, algorithms and formulae, but wants to learn about applied bioinformatics. Now, anyone who can operate a PC, standard software and the internet can also learn to understand the biological basis of bioinformatics, of the existence as well as the source and availability of bioinformatics software, and how to apply these tools and interpret results with confidence. This process is aided by chapters that introduce important aspects of bioinformatics, detailed bioinformatics exercises (including solutions), and to cap it all, a glossary of definitions and terminology relating to bioinformatics.

Genomic Disorders

Genomic Disorders PDF

Author: James R. Lupski

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-11-10

Total Pages: 419

ISBN-13: 1597450391

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A grand summary and synthesis of the tremendous amount of data now available in the post genomic era on the structural features, architecture, and evolution of the human genome. The authors demonstrate how such architectural features may be important to both evolution and to explaining the susceptibility to those DNA rearrangements associated with disease. Technologies to assay for such structural variation of the human genome and to model genomic disorders in mice are also presented. Two appendices detail the genomic disorders, providing genomic features at the locus undergoing rearrangement, their clinical features, and frequency of detection.