Defining Stem Cell Dynamics in Models of Intestinal Tumor Initiation

What is the competitive advantage of cells with frequently occurring mutations during tumor development? Vermeulen et al. (p. [995][1]; see the Perspective by [ Bozic and Nowak ][2]) quantified the advantages of Apc -loss, Kras activation, and P53 mutation during tumor initiation in the mouse intestine. The mutations conferred only a limited clonal advantage. Indeed, many mutated stem cells were stochastically replaced by wild-type stem cells, helping to limit tumor initiation. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1243148 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1247887