Neoplasia is a multilevel condition caused by irregularities over the genome, which can lead to a fatal result. To fully understand this phenomenon, an evolutionary challenge has risen during the last decades, away from human limits, driving the scientific quest into the wild life. The study of wild vertebrate populations in their natural habitats has shown that cancer is rather prominent. Thus, the diversity of vertebrates reported with some form of neoplasia is quite scattered through a variety of habitats. However, some species constitute exceptions by exhibiting cancer-protective features, driven by certain loci in their DNA. It is obvious that from an evolutionary standpoint, the incidence of cancer in different taxa is nowadays studied by seeking for patterns and their roots. The main purpose of the evolutionary approach is no other than to answer a fundamental question: Could cancer be ultimately regarded as another evolutionary force conducive to the formation or shaping-up of species?

中文翻译：

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脊椎动物中癌症的发生：迷你回顾

瘤形成是由基因组不规则引起的多级疾病，可能导致致命的结果。为了完全理解这种现象，在过去的几十年中，进化挑战已经超越了人类的极限，从而推动了对野生生物的科学探索。对自然栖息地中野生脊椎动物种群的研究表明，癌症非常突出。因此，据报道患有某种形式的赘生物的脊椎动物的多样性非常分散在各种生境中。但是，某些物种通过表现出由其DNA中的某些基因座驱动的癌症保护功能而构成例外。显然，从进化的角度来看，如今通过寻找模式及其根源来研究不同分类单元中癌症的发生率。