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Genetic diversity within tumors suggests continuous evolution
By analyzing tumors from more than 2,600 patients and from 38 cancer types, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and fellow member institutions of the international Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium have characterized the extensive genetic diversity across cancer and within individual tumors.
The study, published today in Cell, found that 95% of the analyzed tumors had at least one subclone, or genetically distinct group of tumor cells, and these subclones were often very diverse – even in the same tumor. The findings suggest that tumors continue to evolve in ways that help the cancer survive.