Tumors act like ancient multi-celled organisms.

A new theory about the behavior of cancer cells proposes that the development of the disease is dependent on ancient sets of genes that evolved early in the development of multicelled organisms. The authors suggest that the relatively undifferenticated and loose organization seen in tumor cells is similar to what would have  been present in early forms of multicellular (metazoan) life.  The theory, if correct, could have important implicaions on the ways that cancer develops.