TY - JOUR
T1 - Cancer biology as revealed by the research autopsy
AU - Iacobuzio-Donahue, Christine A.
AU - Michael, Chelsea
AU - Baez, Priscilla
AU - Kappagantula, Rajya
AU - Hooper, Jody E.
AU - Hollman, Travis J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - A research autopsy is a post-mortem medical procedure performed on a deceased individual with the primary goal of collecting tissue to support basic and translational research. This approach has increasingly been used to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms of cancer evolution, metastasis and treatment resistance. In this Review, we discuss the rationale for the use of research autopsies in cancer research and provide an evidence-based discussion of the quality of post-mortem tissues compared with other types of biospecimens. We also discuss the advantages of using post-mortem tissues over other types of biospecimens, including the large amounts of tissue that can be obtained and the extent of multiregion sampling that is achievable, which is not otherwise possible in living patients. We highlight how the research autopsy has supported the identification of the clonal origins and modes of spread among metastases, the extent that selective pressures imposed by treatments cause bottlenecks leading to parallel and convergent tumour evolution, and the creation of rare tissue banks and patient-derived model systems. Finally, we comment on the future of the research autopsy as an integral component of precision medicine strategies.
AB - A research autopsy is a post-mortem medical procedure performed on a deceased individual with the primary goal of collecting tissue to support basic and translational research. This approach has increasingly been used to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms of cancer evolution, metastasis and treatment resistance. In this Review, we discuss the rationale for the use of research autopsies in cancer research and provide an evidence-based discussion of the quality of post-mortem tissues compared with other types of biospecimens. We also discuss the advantages of using post-mortem tissues over other types of biospecimens, including the large amounts of tissue that can be obtained and the extent of multiregion sampling that is achievable, which is not otherwise possible in living patients. We highlight how the research autopsy has supported the identification of the clonal origins and modes of spread among metastases, the extent that selective pressures imposed by treatments cause bottlenecks leading to parallel and convergent tumour evolution, and the creation of rare tissue banks and patient-derived model systems. Finally, we comment on the future of the research autopsy as an integral component of precision medicine strategies.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41568-019-0199-4
DO - 10.1038/s41568-019-0199-4
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31519982
AN - SCOPUS:85073813469
SN - 1474-175X
VL - 19
SP - 686
EP - 697
JO - Nature Reviews Cancer
JF - Nature Reviews Cancer
IS - 12
ER -