“A Renewed Model of Pancreatic Cancer Evolution…” in Nature

A recent paper (Falyza Notta, et al, Nature, 2016) suggests that pancreatic cancer does not proceed gradually but rather behaves like a “big bang” at some point in time (see a related news release in Medical News Today). This is completely consistent with the cancer dormancy model proposed by Chen, Jiao, and Torquato in 2014,  in which there is a sudden “switch” to proliferation from a dormant state.