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The importance of cancer cells for animal evolutionary ecology

Reciprocal interactions between hosts, their symbionts and their oncobiota (cancer cell communities) are yet to be studied in detail. Considering malignant cells in addition to the holobiont perspective allows greater understanding of the processes governing both host phenotypes and cancer dynamics.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Poulin for relevant comments on an earlier version of this paper. This work was supported by the ANR (Blanc project EVOCAN) by the CNRS (INEE), by the Montpellier Hérault Sport Club, by an International Associated Laboratory Project France/Australia and A. Hoffmann (MAVA Fondation). This article is dedicated to the memory of our friend and colleague, Janice Britton-Davidian.

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Correspondence to Frédéric Thomas.

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Thomas, F., Jacqueline, C., Tissot, T. et al. The importance of cancer cells for animal evolutionary ecology. Nat Ecol Evol 1, 1592–1595 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0343-z

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