Cancer has been central to the history of life. Cancer (uncontrolled growth of somatic cells) was the primary barrier to the evolution of multicellular bodies. It was only after evolution discovered mechanisms to suppress and control the proliferation of what came to be somatic cells, that organisms larger than single cells could evolve. In a sense, cancer is the default state of cells, and cooperation, in the form of large bodies, was the novelty that changed the world.
 

The conference discussed the evolution and ecology of cells in tumors, as well as the interaction of cancer with the evolution and ecology of organisms. The main focus of this year’s meeting was on Cooperation, Conflict and Parasitism, including cellular competition, multicellularity and mathematical models. There was also an extensive session on the new and exciting field of transmissible cancers.

Knowledge of evolution and ecology is important to understand and clinically control cancer. Unfortunately, there are few cancer biologists trained in evolution and ecology, and few evolutionary biologists and ecologists work in cancer research. This course aims to cross-train evolutionary biologists and ecologists in cancer, and to train cancer biologists in the relevant evolutionary biology and ecology to facilitate cross-fertilization of ideas and forge active collaborations.

Many biological systems are resilient to shocks, having the ability to return to a previous state following a disturbance. In the case of cancer, this resilience presents a clinical problem of therapeutic resistance. The theme of this year's ISEEC conference is "Resistance, Resilience
and Robustness" and will focus on the evolutionary and ecological processes underlying cancer. During cancer progression and treatment, cancer has the capacity to exhibit resistance, resilience and robustness. Further, organisms have evolved defenses against cancer that increase the robustness of bodies to mutations and other perturbations that can increase cancer susceptibility. Considering the cancer and cancer defenses through the lens of resilience and resistance can help identify challenges and opportunities in cancer therapy and new horizons for cancer prevention. ISEEC welcomes scientists from different disciplines, including but not limited to oncology, cell biology, evolutionary biology and mathematics.

You can download the conference program here and the conference poster here. The Storify capture of the event can be accessed here.

Evolution and ecology are fundamental to both the understanding and clinical control of neoplasms. This summer school will provide an introduction to the basics of cancer evolution and ecology for both cancer biologists and evolutionary biologists. The summer school is aimed at early career scientists, including post-graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and new principle investigators. This summer school will provide cancer biologists with the relevant tools and theory from evolution and ecology. It will also provide evolutionary biologists and ecologists an introduction to cancer biology and demonstration of how their theories and tools can be applied to cancer.

This summer school is supported by the Centre for Evolution and Cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, the Wellcome Trust and the International Society for Evolution, Ecology and Cancer. This next summer school will be held in 2018. Read Revolutionary biology: Evolutionary biology and ecology of cancer summer school supports a growing field to learn about the 2016 summer school.

Tradeoffs are pervasive in biological systems, and the evolutionary dynamics underlying cancer are no exception. The Third International Biannual Evolution and Cancer Conference (IBECC2015) explores the ways in which tradeoffs have shaped the evolution of cancer suppression systems and the role of tradeoffs in the progression of tumors from benign to malignant. A consideration of evolutionary tradeoffs can also help us to identify challenges and opportunities in cancer therapy and new horizons for cancer prevention. We welcomed scientists from different disciplines, including but not limited to oncology, cell biology, evolutionary biology and mathematics.

This conference was supported in part by the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF, the Center for Evolution and Cancer at UCSF and the Biodesign Institute at ASU. Download the official conference poster here.