Tissues contain multiple different cell types and can be considered to be heterocellular systems. Signaling between different cells allows tissues to achieve phenotypes that no cell type can achieve in isolation. Such emergent tissue-level phenotypes can be said to ‘supervene upon’ heterocellular signaling. It is proposed here that cancer is also an emergent phenotype that supervenes upon heterocellular signaling. Using colorectal cancer (CRC) as an example, I review how heterotypic cells differentially communicate to support emergent malignancy. Studying tumors as integrated heterocellular systems – rather than as solitary expansions of mutated cells – may reveal novel ways to treat cancer.

组织包含多种不同的细胞类型，可以被认为是异细胞系统。不同细胞之间的信号传递使组织获得表型，而任何细胞类型都无法实现。这种新兴的组织水平表型可以说是“超越”异源信号。在此提出，癌症也是一种超越异源信号传导的新兴表型。以大肠癌（CRC）为例，我回顾了异型细胞如何差异化通讯以支持紧急恶性肿瘤。将肿瘤作为整合的异细胞系统而不是突变细胞的单独扩展进行研究可能会揭示治疗癌症的新方法。