cancerization
Cancerization is the process by which normal cells acquire the genetic and epigenetic changes that transform them toward a malignant phenotype. It is generally viewed as a multistep progression in which an initial genetic insult (a initiating mutation) is followed by clonal expansion, additional mutations, and epigenetic alterations that enable malignant traits. Over time these changes accumulate, giving rise to the hallmarks of cancer, such as sustained proliferative signaling, resistance to cell death, replicative immortality, angiogenesis, invasion, and genomic instability.
A related concept is field cancerization, where a wide area of tissue exposed to carcinogenic factors becomes
Common drivers include mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, defective DNA repair, and epigenetic reprogramming.
Clinically, cancerization underscores the importance of early detection of dysplasia or carcinoma in situ, followed by