Selection, the mutation rate and cancer: Ensuring that the tail does not wag the dog (original) (raw)

Nature Medicine volume 5, pages 11–12 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

In considering tumorigenesis, much attention is paid to genome instability and mutation rates. While reflecting on the circumstances that have led to this emphasis on mutation rates, Ian Tomlinson and Walter Bodmer point out that an increased mutation rate does not necessarily cause a tumor to grow and that selection is in fact the mechanism that drives the cellular, somatic evolution that leads to cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular and Population Genetics Laboratory, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, 44, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PX, UK
    Ian Tomlinson
  2. Cancer and Immunogenetics Laboratory, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DZ, UK
    Walter Bodmer

Authors

  1. Ian Tomlinson
  2. Walter Bodmer

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Tomlinson, I., Bodmer, W. Selection, the mutation rate and cancer: Ensuring that the tail does not wag the dog.Nat Med 5, 11–12 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/4687

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