Somatic evolution of cancer

We study a situation that arises in the somatic evolution of cancer. Consider a finite population of replicating cells and a sequence of mutations: type 0 can mutate to type 1, which can mutate to type 2. There is no back mutation. We start with a homogeneous population of type 0. Mutants of type 1 emerge and either become extinct or reach fixation. In both cases, they can generate type 2, which also can become extinct or reach fixation. If mutation rates are small compared to the inverse of the population size, then the stochastic dynamics can be described by transitions between homogeneous populations. A

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: RECOMB
• Authors: Martin Nowak
• Keywords: Computational Biology, Mutation Rates, RECOMB 2004, Somatic Evolution, Stochastic Dynamics