Genotype patterns in growing solid tumors

Abstract

Over the past decade, the theory of tumor evolution has largely focused on the selective sweeps model. According to this theory, tumors evolve by a succession of clonal expansions that are initiated by driver mutations. In a 2015 analysis of colon cancer data, Sottoriva et al [34] proposed an alternative theory of tumor evolution, the so-called Big Bang model, in which one or more driver mutations are acquired by the founder gland, and the evolutionary dynamics within the expanding population are predominantly neutral. In this paper we will describe a simple mathematical model that reproduces qualitative features of the observed paatterns of genetic variability and makes quantitative predictions.