Waiting times in a branching process model of colorectal cancer initiation

Theor Popul Biol. 2023 Apr 24:S0040-5809(23)00023-0. doi: 10.1016/j.tpb.2023.04.001. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTWe study a multi-stage model for the development of colorectal cancer from initially healthy tissue. The model incorporates a complex sequence of driver gene alterations, some of which result in immediate growth advantage, while others have initially neutral effects. We derive analytic estimates for the sizes of premalignant subpopulations, and use these results to compute the waiting times to premalignant and malignant genotypes. This work contributes to the quantitative understanding of colorectal tumor evolution and the lifetime risk of colorectal cancer.PMID:37100121 | DOI:10.1016/j.tpb.2023.04.001
Source: Theoretical Population Biology - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: research