Novel patterns of cancer genome evolution

Cells usually undergo a long journey of evolution during the progression from normal to precancerous cells and finally to full-fledged cancer cells. Multiple genomic aberrations are acquired during this journey that could either act as drivers to confer significant growth advantages or act as passengers with little effect on the tumor growth. Recent advances in sequencing technology have made it feasible to decipher the evolutionary course of a cancer cell on a genome-wide level by evaluating the relative number of mutated alleles. Novel terms such as chromothripsis and chromoplexy have been introduced to describe the newly identified patterns of cancer genome evolution. These new insights have greatly expanded our understanding of the initiation and progression of cancers,which should aid in improving the efficiency of cancer management and treatment.