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Aneuploidy: Cancer's Fatal Flaw?

David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Requests for reprints: Angelika Amon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 40 Ames St., E17-233, Cambridge, MA 02139. Phone: 617-258-6559; Fax: 617-258-6558; E-mail: angelika{at}mit.edu.

Aneuploidy is a characteristic of cancer, with greater than 90% of all solid tumors in humans carrying an aberrant karyotype. Yet, whether or how this condition contributes to tumorigenesis is not understood. Here we summarize our recent findings on the effects of aneuploidy on cell physiology and proliferation. These studies suggest that aneuploidy puts significant stress on the cell, which responds to this condition in what can be viewed as an aneuploidy stress response. We will discuss how our results may bear on our understanding of the role of this condition in tumorigenesis and how they may provide new opportunities for treatment of the disease. [Cancer Res 2009;69(13):5289–91]