Cancer research needs developmental biology and developmental biologists

Developmental signaling networks can drive the initiation, growth, dissemination, and therapy resistance of cancer, and malignant cells can in turn re-program these networks in ways that further promote disease progression. Tumors arising within embryonically derived organs or in adult tissues engage host pattern-forming circuits in lineage-specific manners, via cell-to-cancer gap-junctional communication and paracrine crosstalk. Moreover, classic morphogenetic cues regulate key components of the tumor microenvironment, including innate and adaptive immunity, and cancer cells can deploy these developmental programs in a cell-intrinsic, oncogenic fashion. Here we provide a personal view on the rapidly expanding field of cancer developmental biology and emphasize the necessity of interrogating cancer through a developmental lens—together with developmental biologists.