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Surmik D, Słowiak-Morkovina J, Szczygielski T, Kamaszewski M, Kalita S, Teschner EM, Dróżdż D, Duda P, Rothschild BM, Konietzko-Meier D. An insight into cancer palaeobiology: does the Mesozoic neoplasm support tissue organization field theory of tumorigenesis? BMC Ecol Evol 2022; 22:143. [PMID: 36513967 PMCID: PMC9746082 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-022-02098-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neoplasms are common across the animal kingdom and seem to be a feature plesiomorphic for metazoans, related with an increase in somatic complexity. The fossil record of cancer complements our knowledge of the origin of neoplasms and vulnerability of various vertebrate taxa. Here, we document the first undoubted record of primary malignant bone tumour in a Mesozoic non-amniote. The diagnosed osteosarcoma developed in the vertebral intercentrum of a temnospondyl amphibian, Metoposaurus krasiejowensis from the Krasiejów locality, southern Poland. RESULTS A wide array of data collected from gross anatomy, histology, and microstructure of the affected intercentrum reveals the tumour growth dynamics and pathophysiological aspects of the neoplasm formation on the histological level. The pathological process almost exclusively pertains to the periosteal part of the bone composed from a highly vascularised tissue with lamellar matrix. The unorganised arrangement of osteocyte lacunae observed in the tissue is characteristic for bone tissue types connected with static osteogenesis, and not for lamellar bone. The neoplastic bone mimics on the structural level the fast growing fibrolamellar bone, but on the histological level develops through a novel ossification type. The physiological process of bone remodelling inside the endochondral domain continued uninterrupted across the pathology of the periosteal part. CONCLUSIONS Based on the results, we discuss our case study's consistence with the Tissue Organization Field Theory of tumorigenesis, which locates the causes of neoplastic transformations in disorders of tissue architecture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dawid Surmik
- grid.11866.380000 0001 2259 4135Institute of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia, Będzińska 60, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland
| | - Justyna Słowiak-Morkovina
- grid.413454.30000 0001 1958 0162Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Tomasz Szczygielski
- grid.413454.30000 0001 1958 0162Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Maciej Kamaszewski
- grid.13276.310000 0001 1955 7966Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Ciszewskiego 8, 02-786 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Sudipta Kalita
- grid.10388.320000 0001 2240 3300Institute of Geosciences, Section Paleontology, University of Bonn, Nussallee 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Elżbieta M. Teschner
- grid.10388.320000 0001 2240 3300Institute of Geosciences, Section Paleontology, University of Bonn, Nussallee 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany ,grid.107891.60000 0001 1010 7301Institute of Biology, University of Opole, Oleska 22, 45-052 Opole, Poland
| | - Dawid Dróżdż
- grid.413454.30000 0001 1958 0162Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Piotr Duda
- grid.11866.380000 0001 2259 4135Faculty of Exact and Technical Sciences, University of Silesia, Będzińska 39, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland
| | - Bruce M. Rothschild
- grid.420557.10000 0001 2110 2178Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15215 USA
| | - Dorota Konietzko-Meier
- grid.10388.320000 0001 2240 3300Institute of Geosciences, Section Paleontology, University of Bonn, Nussallee 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany
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Stéphanou A. Can major breakthroughs in cancer be achieved through theoretical models?: Comment on "Improving cancer treatments via dynamical biophysical models" by M. Kuznetsov, J. Clairambault and V. Volpert. Phys Life Rev 2021; 40:63-64. [PMID: 34895863 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2021.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- A Stéphanou
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, UMR 5525, TIMC/BCM, 38000 Grenoble, France.
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Sonnenschein C, Soto AM. Over a century of cancer research: Inconvenient truths and promising leads. PLoS Biol 2020; 18:e3000670. [PMID: 32236102 PMCID: PMC7153880 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 04/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite over a century of intensive efforts, the great gains promised by the War on Cancer nearly 50 years ago have not materialized. Since 1999, we have analyzed the lack of progress in explaining and "curing" cancer by examining the merits of the premises that determine how cancer is understood and treated. Our ongoing critical analyses have aimed at clarifying the sources of misunderstandings at the root of the cancer puzzle while providing a plausible and comprehensive biomedical perspective as well as a new theory of carcinogenesis that is compatible with evolutionary theory. In this essay, we explain how this new theory, the tissue organization field theory (TOFT), can help chart a path to progress for cancer researchers by explaining features of cancer that remain unexplainable from the perspective of the still hegemonic somatic mutation theory (SMT) and its variants. Of equal significance, the premises underlying the TOFT offer new perspectives on basic biological phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Sonnenschein
- Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Centre Cavaillès, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
| | - Ana M. Soto
- Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Centre Cavaillès, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
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Mutation Enrichment and Transcriptomic Activation Signatures of 419 Molecular Pathways in Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12:cancers12020271. [PMID: 31979117 PMCID: PMC7073226 DOI: 10.3390/cancers12020271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2019] [Revised: 01/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Carcinogenesis is linked with massive changes in regulation of gene networks. We used high throughput mutation and gene expression data to interrogate involvement of 278 signaling, 72 metabolic, 48 DNA repair and 47 cytoskeleton molecular pathways in cancer. Totally, we analyzed 4910 primary tumor samples with individual cancer RNA sequencing and whole exome sequencing profiles including ~1.3 million DNA mutations and representing thirteen cancer types. Gene expression in cancers was compared with the corresponding 655 normal tissue profiles. For the first time, we calculated mutation enrichment values and activation levels for these pathways. We found that pathway activation profiles were largely congruent among the different cancer types. However, we observed no correlation between mutation enrichment and expression changes both at the gene and at the pathway levels. Overall, positive median cancer-specific activation levels were seen in the DNA repair, versus similar slightly negative values in the other types of pathways. The DNA repair pathways also demonstrated the highest values of mutation enrichment. However, the signaling and cytoskeleton pathways had the biggest proportions of representatives among the outstandingly frequently mutated genes thus suggesting their initiator roles in carcinogenesis and the auxiliary/supporting roles for the other groups of molecular pathways.
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A Possible Role for Philosophy: Bridging the Conceptual Divide in Cancer Research. Acta Biotheor 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10441-018-9326-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Process analysis of carcinogenesis: concept derivation of the tissue function "preservation of a homogeneous gene expression". Theory Biosci 2017; 137:85-97. [PMID: 29086163 DOI: 10.1007/s12064-017-0256-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2016] [Accepted: 10/16/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
A new system for maintaining homogeneous gene expression in tissue and for destroying through apoptosis nonconforming cells is introduced. This functionality is called the "similarity comparison." Accordingly, the survival of mutated cells is hindered due to reduced gene expression. That, in turn, maintains the homogeneity of the tissue and prevents tumors from developing. The concept of the similarity comparison is that every stationary cell in every tissue constantly screens the gene expression of its neighbors. Cells process the signals, and when the difference between neighbors exceeds some threshold, a signal is triggered. An under-expressing cell then either increases its gene expression or apoptosis occurs. The oversight role of the similarity comparison can, under certain conditions, be disrupted, such that mutated cells in the tissue can survive. This is possible only when surrounding normal cells exhibit reduced gene expression. In this case, the normal cells and mutated cells have similar gene expression, and the signal for apoptosis is not triggered. The mutated cells survive, and a tumor can develop. The importance of the similarity comparison as an oversight mechanism is studied. Examples are considered.
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Sigston EAW, Williams BRG. An Emergence Framework of Carcinogenesis. Front Oncol 2017; 7:198. [PMID: 28959682 PMCID: PMC5603758 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2017.00198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2017] [Accepted: 08/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Experimental paradigms provide the framework for the understanding of cancer, and drive research and treatment, but are rarely considered by clinicians. The somatic mutation theory (SMT), in which cancer is considered a genetic disease, has been the predominant traditional model of cancer for over 50 years. More recently, alternative theories have been proposed, such as tissue organization field theory (TOFT), evolutionary models, and inflammatory models. Key concepts within the various models have led to them being difficult to reconcile. Progressively, it has been recognized that biological systems cannot be fully explained by the physicochemical properties of their constituent parts. There is an increasing call for a 'systems' approach. Incorporating the concepts of 'emergence', 'systems', 'thermodynamics', and 'chaos', a single integrated framework for carcinogenesis has been developed, enabling existing theories to become compatible as alternative mechanisms, facilitating the integration of bioinformatics and providing a structure in which translational research can flow from both 'benchtop to bedside' and 'bedside to benchtop'. In this review, a basic understanding of the key concepts of 'emergence', 'systems', 'system levels', 'complexity', 'thermodynamics', 'entropy', 'chaos', and 'fractals' is provided. Non-linear mathematical equations are included where possible to demonstrate compatibility with bioinformatics. Twelve principles that define the 'emergence framework of carcinogenesis' are developed, with principles 1-10 encapsulating the key concepts upon which the framework is built and their application to carcinogenesis. Principle 11 relates the framework to cancer progression. Principle 12 relates to the application of the framework to translational research. The 'emergence framework of carcinogenesis' collates current paradigms, concepts, and evidence around carcinogenesis into a single framework that incorporates previously incompatible viewpoints and ideas. Any researcher, scientist, or clinician involved in research, treatment, or prevention of cancer can employ this framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A W Sigston
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Monash Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Department of Surgery, Monash Medical Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Bryan R G Williams
- Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Department of Molecular and Translational Science, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Bedessem B, Ruphy S. SMT and TOFT Integrable After All: A Reply to Bizzarri and Cucina. Acta Biotheor 2017; 65:81-85. [PMID: 27535677 DOI: 10.1007/s10441-016-9286-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2016] [Accepted: 08/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In a previous paper recently published in this journal, we argue that the two main theories of carcinogenesis (SMT and TOFT) should be considered as compatible, at the metaphysical, epistemological and biological levels. In a reply to our contribution, Bizzarri and Cucina claim we are wrong since SMT and TOFT are opposite and incompatible paradigms. Here, we show that their arguments are not satisfactory. Indeed, the authors go through the same mistakes that we already addressed. In particular, they confuse reductionism, as an ontological frame, and genetic determinism, as a causal pathway. Beside, they make an inadequate use of the Kuhnian notion of paradigm shift. Finally, we confirm our previous conclusion: there is no strong argument to totally abandon the somatic mutation theory. It describes a partial causal pathway, compatible with the one proposed by TOFT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baptiste Bedessem
- Laboratoire PPL, Université Grenoble-Alpes, Bat. ARSH CS 40700, 38058, Grenoble, France.
| | - Stphanie Ruphy
- Laboratoire PPL, Université Grenoble-Alpes, Bat. ARSH CS 40700, 38058, Grenoble, France
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Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis in cancerogenesis. MUTATION RESEARCH-REVIEWS IN MUTATION RESEARCH 2016; 772:78-104. [PMID: 28528692 DOI: 10.1016/j.mrrev.2016.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2016] [Revised: 08/27/2016] [Accepted: 08/31/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Determination of the role of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) family components in carcinogenesis of several human tumors is based on numerous epidemiological and pre-clinical studies, experiments in vivo and in vitro and on attempts at application of drugs affecting the IGF axis. Investigative hypotheses in original studies were based on biological functions manifested by the entire family of IGF (ligands, receptors, linking proteins, adaptor molecules). In the context of carcinogenesis the most important functions of IGF family involve intensification of proliferation and inhibition of cell apoptosis and effect on cell transformation through synthesis of several regulatory proteins. IGF axis controls survival and influences on metastases of cells. Interactions of IGF axis components may be of a direct or indirect nature. The direct effects are linked to activation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, in which the initiating role is first of all played by IGF-1 and IGF-1R. Activity of this signaling pathway leads to an increased mitogenesis, cell cycle progression, and protection against different apoptotic stresses. Indirect effects of the axis depend on interactions between IGF and other molecules important for cancer etiology (e.g. sex hormones, products of suppressor genes, viruses, and other GFs) and the style of life (nutrition, physical activity). From the clinical point of view, components of IGF system are first of all considered as diagnostic serous and/or tissue biomarkers of a given cancer, prognostic factors and attractive target of modern anti-tumor therapies. Several mechanisms in which IGF system components act in the process of carcinogenesis need to be clarified, mainly due to multifactorial etiology of the neoplasms. Pin-pointing of the role played in carcinogenesis by any single signaling pathway remains particularly difficult. The aim of this review is to summarize the current data of several epidemiological studies, experiments in vitro and on animal models, to increase our understanding of the complex role of IGF family components in the most common human cancers.
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Bizzarri M, Cucina A. SMT and TOFT: Why and How They are Opposite and Incompatible Paradigms. Acta Biotheor 2016; 64:221-39. [PMID: 27283400 DOI: 10.1007/s10441-016-9281-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2015] [Accepted: 05/23/2016] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT) has been challenged on its fundamentals by the Tissue Organization Field Theory of Carcinogenesis (TOFT). However, a recent publication has questioned whether TOFT could be a valid alternative theory of carcinogenesis to that presented by SMT. Herein we critically review arguments supporting the irreducible opposition between the two theoretical approaches by highlighting differences regarding the philosophical, methodological and experimental approaches on which they respectively rely. We conclude that SMT has not explained carcinogenesis due to severe epistemological and empirical shortcomings, while TOFT is gaining momentum. The main issue is actually to submit SMT to rigorous testing. This concern includes the imperatives to seek evidence for disproving one's hypothesis, and to consider the whole, and not just selective evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariano Bizzarri
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161, Rome, Italy.
- Systems Biology Group Lab, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Antonio Scarpa 14, 00161, Rome, Italy.
| | - Alessandra Cucina
- Department of Surgery "Pietro Valdoni", Sapienza University of Rome, Via A. Scarpa 14, 00161, Rome, Italy
- Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161, Rome, Italy
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Chisholm RH, Lorenzi T, Clairambault J. Cell population heterogeneity and evolution towards drug resistance in cancer: Biological and mathematical assessment, theoretical treatment optimisation. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2016; 1860:2627-45. [PMID: 27339473 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2016.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2016] [Revised: 05/25/2016] [Accepted: 06/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Drug-induced drug resistance in cancer has been attributed to diverse biological mechanisms at the individual cell or cell population scale, relying on stochastically or epigenetically varying expression of phenotypes at the single cell level, and on the adaptability of tumours at the cell population level. SCOPE OF REVIEW We focus on intra-tumour heterogeneity, namely between-cell variability within cancer cell populations, to account for drug resistance. To shed light on such heterogeneity, we review evolutionary mechanisms that encompass the great evolution that has designed multicellular organisms, as well as smaller windows of evolution on the time scale of human disease. We also present mathematical models used to predict drug resistance in cancer and optimal control methods that can circumvent it in combined therapeutic strategies. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS Plasticity in cancer cells, i.e., partial reversal to a stem-like status in individual cells and resulting adaptability of cancer cell populations, may be viewed as backward evolution making cancer cell populations resistant to drug insult. This reversible plasticity is captured by mathematical models that incorporate between-cell heterogeneity through continuous phenotypic variables. Such models have the benefit of being compatible with optimal control methods for the design of optimised therapeutic protocols involving combinations of cytotoxic and cytostatic treatments with epigenetic drugs and immunotherapies. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE Gathering knowledge from cancer and evolutionary biology with physiologically based mathematical models of cell population dynamics should provide oncologists with a rationale to design optimised therapeutic strategies to circumvent drug resistance, that still remains a major pitfall of cancer therapeutics. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "System Genetics" Guest Editor: Dr. Yudong Cai and Dr. Tao Huang.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca H Chisholm
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Tommaso Lorenzi
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, KY16 9SS, St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom. http://www.tommasolorenzi.com
| | - Jean Clairambault
- INRIA Paris, MAMBA team, 2, rue Simone Iff, CS 42112, 75589 Paris Cedex 12, France; Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 6, UMR 7598, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions, Boîte courrier 187, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France.
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