Division of Mathematics for Cancer Evolution and Early Detection
The Division of Mathematics for Cancer Evolution and Early Detection uses mathematical modeling and sequencing data for understanding:
- Tumor evolution and cancer etiology
- AI and machine learning applied to sequencing and imaging data for cancer early detection and monitoring of minimal residual disease
- Statistical methods for cancer risk prediction and trial design
- Bioinformatics for genomic data
Our Research Focus
Early Cancer Detection
Noninvasive cell-free DNA (cfDNA) blood tests and imaging have the potential to detect cancers years before conventional diagnostic methods.
Cancer Evolution
The sequential accumulation of genetic and epigenetic changes drives cancer. We provide mathematical models of the complete process of tumor evolution. These models can recapitulate a substantial proportion of the observed incidence in several cancer types.
Cancer Etiology
About two-thirds of the cancer-causing genetic mutations can be attributed to random errors that occur as our normal cells divide rather than to environmental, lifestyle and inherited factors.
Cancer Monitoring
The presence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) post-surgery predicts recurrence. A ctDNA-guided approach to cancer reduces adjuvant chemotherapy use without compromising recurrence-free survivorship.
Leadership
Collaborators
City of Hope
- Terence M. Williams, M.D., Ph.D.
- Edward Sanghyun Kim, M.D., M.B.A.
- Ravi Salgia, M.D., Ph.D.
- Yuman Fong, M.D.
- Heather Hampel, M.S., CGC
- Tijana Jovanovic-Talisman, Ph.D.
- Stephen Gruber, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
TGen
- Jeffrey Trent, Ph.D.
- Daniel von Hoff, M.D.
- Michael Berens, Ph.D.
- John Altin, Ph.D.
Johns Hopkins University
- Bert Vogelstein, M.D.
- Kenneth Kinzler, Ph.D.
- Donald Geman, Ph.D.
- Alan Yuille, Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh
- Rocky Schoen, M.D., M.P.H.
Funding
- National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health
- John Templeton Foundation
- Altman Foundation
- Lustgarten Foundation
Publications
- Tomasetti C., & Vogelstein B. (2015). Cancer etiology. Variation in cancer risk among tissues can be explained by the number of stem cell divisions. Science (New York, N.Y.), 347(6217), 78–81.
- Cohen JD, Li L, Wang Y, Thoburn C, Afsari B, Danilova L, Douville C, Javed AA, Wong F, Mattox A, Hruban RH, Wolfgang CL, Goggins MG, Dal Molin M, Wang TL, Roden R, Klein AP, Ptak J, Dobbyn L, Schaefer J … Papadopoulos N. (2018). Detection and localization of surgically resectable cancers with a multi-analyte blood test. Science (New York, N.Y.), 359(6378), 926–930.
- Lahouel K, Younes L, Danilova L, Giardiello FM, Hruban RH, Groopman J, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B, Geman D, Tomasetti C. (2020). Revisiting the tumorigenesis timeline with a data-driven generative model. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(2), 857–864.
- Afsari B, Kuo A, Zhang Y, Li L, Lahouel K, Danilova L, Favorov A, Rosenquist TA, Grollman AP, Kinzler KW, Cope L, Vogelstein B, Tomasetti C. (2021). Supervised mutational signatures for obesity and other tissue-specific etiological factors in cancer. eLife, 10, e61082.
- Tie J, Cohen JD, Lahouel K, Lo SN, Wang Y, Kosmider S, Wong R, Shapiro J, Lee M, Harris S, Khattak A, Burge M, Harris M, Lynam J, Nott L, Day F, Hayes T, McLachlan SA, Lee B, Ptak J … DYNAMIC Investigators (2022). Circulating Tumor DNA Analysis Guiding Adjuvant Therapy in Stage II Colon Cancer. The New England journal of medicine, 386(24), 2261–2272.