From hydra to human: in silico investigation of the atavistic model of cancer

Purpose: Cancer manifests as a disruption in the regular functioning of multicellular systems, arising from the malfunctioning of genes responsible for cellular cooperation. Notably, cancer exhibits atavistic characteristics, wherein cancer cells diverge from the conventional Darwinian evolution, highlighting a distinctive trajectory in their evolutionary fate. In this context, cancer cells may display traits such as uncontrolled proliferation, evasion of cell death mechanisms and altered metabolism, which could reflect ancient biological programs related to cell growth and survival. The objective of this study was to trace the evolutionary origin of cancer by analyzing tumor-related proteins in the basal metazoan Hydra and their preservation across diverse taxa. Materials and Methods: Bioinformatic approaches were employed to investigate the conservation status of protein-coding transcripts that are differentially expressed in the tumor-bearing Hydra across species, representing both unicellular and multicellular forms of life. Results: By examining the taxonomic distribution of the Hydra polyp-related proteins, we have traced the ancient evolutionary roots of cancer through the tree of life. The majority of protein-coding genes were found to be of unicellular origin and associated with cancer. Conclusion: We suggest conservation of the atavistic in model of cancer the basal tumor-bearing animals, which can be considered as promising and intriguing candidate model organisms in cancer research.