TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of chromosomal instability in cancer and therapeutic responses
AU - Vargas-Rondón, Natalia
AU - Villegas, Victoria E.
AU - Rondón-Lagos, Milena
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the Research and Innovation Office of Universidad el Rosario. Graphic designer Elizabeth Cruz Tapias is acknowledged for the illustrations. The authors also thank Edanz Group (www.edanzediting.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - Cancer is one of the leading causes of death, and despite increased research in recent years, control of advanced-stage disease and optimal therapeutic responses remain elusive. Recent technological improvements have increased our understanding of human cancer as a heterogeneous disease. For instance, four hallmarks of cancer have recently been included, which in addition to being involved in cancer development, could be involved in therapeutic responses and resistance. One of these hallmarks is chromosome instability (CIN), a source of genetic variation in either altered chromosome number or structure. CIN has become a hot topic in recent years, not only for its implications in cancer diagnostics and prognostics, but also for its role in therapeutic responses. Chromosomal alterations are mainly used to determine genetic heterogeneity in tumors, but CIN could also reveal treatment efficacy, as many therapies are based on increasing CIN, which causes aberrant cells to undergo apoptosis. However, it should be noted that contradictory findings on the implications of CIN for the therapeutic response have been reported, with some studies associating high CIN with a better therapeutic response and others associating it with therapeutic resistance. Considering these observations, it is necessary to increase our understanding of the role CIN plays not only in tumor development, but also in therapeutic responses. This review focuses on recent studies that suggest possible mechanisms and consequences of CIN in different disease types, with a primary focus on cancer outcomes and therapeutic responses.
AB - Cancer is one of the leading causes of death, and despite increased research in recent years, control of advanced-stage disease and optimal therapeutic responses remain elusive. Recent technological improvements have increased our understanding of human cancer as a heterogeneous disease. For instance, four hallmarks of cancer have recently been included, which in addition to being involved in cancer development, could be involved in therapeutic responses and resistance. One of these hallmarks is chromosome instability (CIN), a source of genetic variation in either altered chromosome number or structure. CIN has become a hot topic in recent years, not only for its implications in cancer diagnostics and prognostics, but also for its role in therapeutic responses. Chromosomal alterations are mainly used to determine genetic heterogeneity in tumors, but CIN could also reveal treatment efficacy, as many therapies are based on increasing CIN, which causes aberrant cells to undergo apoptosis. However, it should be noted that contradictory findings on the implications of CIN for the therapeutic response have been reported, with some studies associating high CIN with a better therapeutic response and others associating it with therapeutic resistance. Considering these observations, it is necessary to increase our understanding of the role CIN plays not only in tumor development, but also in therapeutic responses. This review focuses on recent studies that suggest possible mechanisms and consequences of CIN in different disease types, with a primary focus on cancer outcomes and therapeutic responses.
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U2 - 10.3390/cancers10010004
DO - 10.3390/cancers10010004
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85040817512
SN - 2072-6694
VL - 10
JO - Cancers
JF - Cancers
IS - 1
M1 - 4
ER -