Estimating the predictability of cancer evolution

Sayed-Rzgar Hosseini, Ramón Díaz-Uriarte, Florian Markowetz, Niko Beerenwinkel

Abstract: How predictable is the evolution of cancer? This fundamental question is of immense relevance for the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of cancer. Evolutionary biologists have approached the question of predictability based on the underlying fitness landscape. However, empirical fitness landscapes of tumor cells are impossible to determine in vivo. Thus, in order to quantify the predictability of cancer evolution, alternative approaches are required that circumvent the need for fitness landscapes.