This is a three-dimensional model of a tumor showing cell types in varying colors. Credit: Bartek Waclaw and Martin Nowak
The new model explains why cancer cells have a surprising number of genetic mutations in common, how driver mutations spread through the whole tumor and how drug resistance evolves. “Previously, we and others have mostly used non-spatial models to study cancer evolution,” Nowak said. “But those models do not describe the spatial characteristics of solid tumors. Now, for the first time, we have a computational model that can do that.”
A key insight of the new model, Nowak said, is the ability for cells to migrate locally. “Cellular mobility makes cancers grow fast, and it makes cancers homogenous in the sense that cancer cells share a common set of mutations...
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