Comparison of the atavistic model of cancer to somatic mutation theory: Phylostratigraphic analyses support the atavistic model

Abstract

We review the atavistic model of cancer1 and compare it with the leading model: Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT). We identify their differences and describe specific predictions of the atavistic model that make it more easily tested than SMT. The increasingly dense phylogenetic tree of all life on Earth has permitted a range of phylostratigraphic analyses which support the atavistic model. Show more