There are strong parallels between the evolutionary origin of species within populations of organisms and new concepts for the origin of cancers within cell populations in the tissues of the body. The analogy is that cancers can be regarded as a new somatic species developing within the host organism. In both cases, understanding the processes involved requires a multi-scale analysis, including higher-level control of genetic and epigenetic changes. A key to developing successful therapeutic strategies will be to identify the processes that control heterogeneity in tissues. These include processes outside the currently dominant theory of evolution, i.e. the Modern Synthesis. Specifically, organisms can partially direct both genetic and epigenetic changes through the harnessing of chance. The loci and rates of mutation and of genome reorganisation are forms of targeted functional reorganisation of genomes. They are more likely to result in functional reorganisations compared to the slow accumulation of point mutations.

生物体种群中物种的进化起源与身体组织中细胞种群中癌症起源的新概念之间存在很强的相似性。类比是癌症可以被视为在宿主生物体内发育的新体细胞物种。在这两种情况下，了解所涉及的过程需要多尺度分析，包括对遗传和表观遗传变化的更高级别控制。开发成功治疗策略的关键是确定控制组织异质性的过程。这些包括当前占主导地位的进化理论之外的过程，即现代综合。具体来说，生物体可以通过利用机会来部分指导遗传和表观遗传的变化。突变和基因组重组的位点和速率是基因组靶向功能重组的形式。与点突变的缓慢积累相比，它们更有可能导致功能重组。