Biological Significance of Tumor Heterogeneity in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common and aggressive malignancy, with hitherto dismal clinical outcome. Genomic analyses of patient samples reveal a complex heterogeneous landscape for ESCC, which presents in both intertumor and intratumor forms, manifests at both genomic and epigeno...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cancers 2019-08, Vol.11 (8), p.1156
Main Authors: Lin, Lehang, Lin, De-Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cell cycle
Cloning
Consortia
Drug resistance
Esophageal cancer
Esophagus
Evolution
Genomic analysis
Malignancy
Medical diagnosis
Metastases
Mutation
Organoids
Patients
Review
Squamous cell carcinoma
Tumors
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Summary:Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common and aggressive malignancy, with hitherto dismal clinical outcome. Genomic analyses of patient samples reveal a complex heterogeneous landscape for ESCC, which presents in both intertumor and intratumor forms, manifests at both genomic and epigenomic levels, and contributes significantly to tumor evolution, drug resistance, and metastasis. Here, we review the important molecular characteristics underlying ESCC heterogeneity, with an emphasis on genomic aberrations and their functional contribution to cancer evolutionary trajectories. We further discuss how novel experimental tools, including single-cell sequencing and three-dimensional organoids, may advance our understanding of tumor heterogeneity. Lastly, we suggest that deciphering the mechanisms governing tumor heterogeneity holds the potential to developing precision therapeutics for ESCC patients.
ISSN:2072-6694
2072-6694
DOI:10.3390/cancers11081156