{
  "abstract": "Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) develop from the stratified epithelia of the esophagus, head and neck, lung, and skin, providing a tractable model to investigate how altered epithelial fields progress toward invasive cancer. Across SCC subtypes, evolution often begins before overt malignancy, with age- and exposure-associated mutant clones expanding within histologically normal epithelia. As lesions advance, early driver selection becomes coupled to copy number alterations, chromosomal instability, and epigenetic remodeling, whereas later stages are shaped by branching diversification, cellular plasticity, and regionally constrained selection. Despite tissue-specific differences, several recurrent principles emerge, including clonal expansion within mutated normal fields, transition bottlenecks marked by genome-scale instability, and the spatial organization of subclonal architecture and invasive-front states. In this review, we synthesize recent progress in the temporal ordering and spatial patterning of SCC evolution and discuss how genetic alterations, epigenetic remodeling, and tissue ecology jointly drive disease progression. We further highlight the implications for early interception, biomarker development, immune evasion, and evolution-informed prevention and therapy.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Etiology and Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China.",
    "Key Laboratory of Cancer Genomic Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China.",
    "Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Personalized Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, P. R. China.",
    "Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) Oxford Institute, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research support, non u.s. gov't",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lan Lan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Xinyu Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Xiaoqi Jiang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Xiangyi Lin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yancheng Lai"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Wen Tan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Shaosen Zhang",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0010-1445"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Dongxin Lin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Chen Wu"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1m2zzq9wa9cjh.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.34133/cancomm.0051",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13678079",
  "id": "1m2zzq9wa9cjh",
  "issns": [
    "2523-3548"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898679",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2733|Head and Neck Cancer Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7203837512",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13678079?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13678079",
  "pmid": "42898679",
  "published": "2026-10-19",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1m2zzq9wa9cjh.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:32Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42898679",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898679"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2733|Head and Neck Cancer Studies",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Spatiotemporal Analysis of Molecular Continuity in Pathogenesis of Squamous Cell Carcinoma: From Normal Epithelium to Precancerous Lesions and Carcinoma.",
  "title_text": "Spatiotemporal Analysis of Molecular Continuity in Pathogenesis of Squamous Cell Carcinoma: From Normal Epithelium to Precancerous Lesions and Carcinoma.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:32Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1m2zzq9wa9cjh",
  "venue": "Cancer communications (London, England)",
  "versions": []
}