Uncovering and quantifying the laws of the evolutionary dynamics of cancer, in particular in the context of specific genetic lesions and in individual patients, has the potential to revolutionize precision oncology. Recent technological advances in the study of human cancer have increased access to in vivo human data and have thereby facilitated the confirmation or refutation of existing theoretical models. In this Perspective, we discuss recent work at the intersection of quantitative mathematical models of cancer evolution and patient data that provides insights into different stages of tumor evolution, including premalignant and malignant progression and response to therapy.

揭示和量化癌症进化动力学的规律，特别是在特定遗传病变和个体患者的背景下，有可能彻底改变精准肿瘤学。人类癌症研究的最新技术进步增加了对体内人类数据的访问，从而促进了对现有理论模型的确认或反驳。在这个观点中，我们讨论了癌症进化的定量数学模型和患者数据的交叉点最近的工作，这些工作提供了对肿瘤进化不同阶段的见解，包括癌前和恶性进展以及对治疗的反应。