Opinion in 2013

Evolutionary life history theory posits that some organisms reproduce rapidly whereas others invest more resources in survival. This framework might help us to understand the diversity of phenotypes that are displayed by tumour cells, including stem cell-like phenotypes, and could have important clinical implications.

There is an emerging association between the microbiota and carcinogenesis. How might the microbiota modulate tumorigenesis, and what do we need to understand to more firmly conclude that the microbiome causes cancer?

This Opinion article outlines the roles of vesicle trafficking pathways in various phenotypes shown by cancer cells, especially loss of polarity and invasion, and argues that although these proteins are not drivers of transformation, they are integral to maintaining neoplastic phenotypes.

What can we learn about cancer stem cells and tumour tissue hierarchy from what we know about stem cells? Read this Opinion article to find out how our knowledge of normal stem cells applies to cancer stem cells in solid tumours.

Many therapeutic agents target the ERBB family of receptor tyrosine kinases in various cancers. This Opinion article describes our latest understanding of the value of combining inhibitors directed towards an individual ERBB family member, including the molecular mechanisms of synergy and progress in clinical trials.

The efficacy of surgery is dependent on removing the entire tumour and also on not damaging important structures, such as nerves. Strategies, such as fluorescent labelling, are being developed to visually identify tumour cells and crucial structures in order to improve the safe resection of tumours. These methods have the potential to improve the survival of cancer patients, as discussed here.

Can novel materials, probes and tools, which represent an integration of traditional and new engineering approaches with cancer biology, help us to better understand tumour progression and invasion?

The DREAM complex provides a previously unsuspected unifying role in the cell cycle. This Opinion article explores the functions of the DREAM complex and how they might contribute to tumour development and progression.

In this Perspective article, the authors propose that the construction of a 'precancer niche' is a necessary and early step that is required for tumorigenesis. Because a cancer niche would evolve with the transformed cell, cancer niches potentially represent an emergent property of a tumour that could be a robust target for cancer prevention and therapy.

Feinberg and Timp review cancer-associated epigenetic alterations and propose that epigenetic dysregulation is an initiating force in tumorigenesis that promotes the selection of cancer-associated phenotypes and that can cooperate with genetic alterations, indicating that the gene-centric view of cancer biology is not the whole story.

The domestic laying hen is the only non-human animal that spontaneously develops ovarian cancer with a high prevalence. This Opinion article discusses how the hen may be used as a potential model of human ovarian cancer, and the advantages and disadvantages of this system.

Allosteric disulphide bonds regulate the function of the mature proteins in which they reside. This Opinion article discusses the progress in our ability to identify and disrupt allosteric disulphide bonds and the potential therapeutic value of targeting these bonds in cancer.

The incidence of most cancers increases with age, and there are various ageing-associated changes that might contribute to increased tumorigenesis, and paradoxically, to decreased tumorigenesis. Lessons may be learned from diseases conferring premature ageing or longevity, and this Opinion article discusses our current understanding of the connections between ageing and cancer.

Using malignant melanoma as a paradigm, these authors propose that therapy-induced injury to tumour tissue and the resultant inflammation can activate protective and regenerative responses that represent a shared resistance mechanism to different treatments.

The CPEBs regulate polyadenylation — and thus expression — of certain RNAs, including those encoding oncogenes and tumour suppressors. This Opinion article analyses whether the CPEBs are deregulated in cancer and discusses the possible implications for cancer biology.

Malignant ascites presents a considerable clinical challenge to the management of ovarian cancer. This Opinion article discusses recent advances in our understanding of its pathophysiology, the development of new methods to characterize its molecular features and how these findings can be used to improve the treatment of malignant ascites.

Cyclins control the activity of cyclin-dependent kinases, which drive cell cycle progression. The expression of cyclins can be disrupted in cancer cells, and this Opinion article discusses the possibility that altered subcellular localization of cyclins may also affect cell cycle progression and genomic stability.

Although we understand various aspects of prostate cancer biology, few reliable risk factors are known. This Opinion article rationalizes why exposures early in life may be key for prostate cancer risk, summarizes our current limited understanding of early-life exposures and provides visions for the future.

p63 is expressed as various isoforms that seem to have opposing roles in cancer, with some being tumour suppressive and others being oncogenic. This Opinion article discusses the functions of the p63 isoforms and their interplay with other members of the p53 family.