Preservation and clonal behavior of extrachromosomal DNA in patient-derived xenograft models of childhood cancers
Genome Med. 2026 May 28. doi: 10.1186/s13073-026-01676-0. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) is a structural variant linked to poor prognosis in pediatric cancers. Patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models are crucial tools for cancer research, as they are believed to recapitulate the molecular features and intratumoral heterogeneity in patient tumors. However, ecDNA demonstrates […]
Extrachromosomal DNA-Driven Oncogene Dosage Heterogeneity Promotes Rapid Adaptation to Therapy in MYCN-Amplified Cancers
Cancer Discov. 2025 Aug 7:OF1-OF24. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-24-1738. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) amplification enhances intercellular oncogene dosage variability and accelerates tumor evolution by violating foundational principles of genetic inheritance through its asymmetric mitotic segregation. Spotlighting high-risk neuroblastoma, we demonstrate how ecDNA amplification undermines the clinical efficacy of current therapies in cancers with […]