Divergent evolutionary dynamics of benign and malignant tumors

Butler, G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6207-6225, Baker, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4904-6934, Amend, S. R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5606-1262, Pienta, K. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4138-2186 and Venditti, C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6776-2355 (2025) Divergent evolutionary dynamics of benign and malignant tumors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122 (45). e2519203122. ISSN 1091-6490 doi: 10.1073/pnas.2519203122

Abstract/Summary

Benign and malignant (cancerous) tumors differ markedly in their impact on organismal fitness, yet studies in comparative oncology rarely distinguish between them. Using a Bayesian phylogenetic framework across birds and mammals, we show that while both tumor types increase in prevalence with body mass, only the prevalence of malignant tumors is negatively associated with the rate of body size evolution—suggesting that adaptive mechanisms of cancer defense are associated with rapidly evolving lineages. Additionally, the rate of lineage diversification is positively associated with the prevalence of both tumor types in birds but not mammals, potentially reflecting differences in genome architecture and speciation dynamics. Together, these results highlight distinct macroevolutionary drivers of benign versus malignant tumor prevalence and underscore the value of treating tumor types separately in comparative oncology.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/127118
Identification Number/DOI	10.1073/pnas.2519203122
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences > Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Publisher	National Academy of Sciences
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