ReviewNature reviews. Genetics2009
Non-genetic heterogeneity--a mutation-independent driving force for the somatic evolution of tumours.
Review in Nature reviews. Genetics, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 263 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
263 citing papers in PubMed, 506 citations in OpenAlex.
- Limits of radiomic-based entropy as a surrogate of tumor heterogeneity: ROI-area, acquisition protocol and tissue site exert substantial influence.Scientific reports · 2017Trial
- Variant allele frequency enrichment analysis in vitro reveals sonic hedgehog pathway to impede sustained temozolomide response in GBM.Scientific reports · 2015Trial
- Regulated cell death plasticity in cancer: thresholds, reversibility, and therapeutic failure.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Structural, Compositional, and Dielectric State Profiling in Label-Free Single-Cell Monitoring.Small methods · 2026Review
- MiTo: tracing the phenotypic evolution of somatic cell lineages via mitochondrial single-cell multi-omics.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Heterogeneous, population-level drug-tolerant persisters exhibit ion-channel remodeling and ferroptosis susceptibility.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Review
- Sequential transcriptional waves and NF-κB-driven chromatin remodeling direct drug-induced dedifferentiation in cancer.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Stochastic Gene Expression Model with State-Dependent Protein Activation Delay.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Review
- 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine are synergistic biomarkers for early detection of colorectal cancer.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- A Darwinian Perspective on Tumor Evolution.International journal of biological sciences · 2026Review
- Optimal dosing of anti-cancer treatment under drug-induced plasticity.NPJ systems biology and applications · 2025Article
- Multi-omics analyses of the heterogenous immune microenvironment in triple-negative breast cancer implicate UQCRFS1 potentiates tumor progression.Experimental hematology & oncology · 2025Article
- Unlocking Cellular Memory and Gene Regulatory Networks: Pioneering the Future of Therapeutic Innovations.Cells · 2025Article
- Population Thinking and the Uniqueness of Biological Entities.Acta biotheoretica · 2025Article
- Article
- Heterogeneity-driven phenotypic plasticity and treatment response in branched-organoid models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.Nature biomedical engineering · 2025Article
- A quantitative characterization of the heterogeneous response of glioblastoma U-87 MG cell line to temozolomide.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The end of the genetic paradigm of cancer.PLoS biology · 2025Review
203 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Clonal populations of mammalian cells are inherently heterogeneous. They contain cells that display non-genetic variability resulting from gene expression noise and the fact that gene networks have multiple stable states. These stable, heritable variants within one cell type can exhibit different levels of responsiveness to environmental conditions. Hence, they could in principle serve as a temporary substrate for natural selection in the absence of mutations. We suggest that such ubiquitous but non-genetic variability can contribute to the somatic evolution of cancer cells, hence accelerating tumour progression independently of genetic mutations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.