Understanding intra-tumour heterogeneity paves the way for personalised oncology

Mutations in tumour cells followed by their proliferation lead to intra-tumour heterogeneity. During the evolution of the tumour, cells interact with one another, influencing the progression of the disease and the success of tumour treatment. A novel statistical tool developed by Jack Kuipers and other researchers from the group of Niko Beerenwinkel together with colleagues from the Universities of Zurich and Texas now helps identify those pairs of mutated genes interacting across cells.