# Context is everything: aneuploidy in cancer

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-ben-david-nat-rev-genet/  
OnCo record `paper-ben-david-nat-rev-genet` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Paper cited by one idea page, indexed on Europe PMC as PubMed record 31548659 and published in Nature reviews. Genetics; the citing page links this DOI, which is how the record was matched.

## Summary

Cancer is driven by multiple types of genetic alterations, which range in size from point mutations to whole-chromosome gains and losses, known as aneuploidy. Chromosome instability, the process that gives rise to aneuploidy, can promote tumorigenesis by increasing genetic heterogeneity and promoting tumour evolution. However, much less is known about how aneuploidy itself contributes to tumour formation and progression. Unlike some pan-cancer oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes that drive transformation in virtually all cell types and cellular contexts, aneuploidy is not a universal promoter of tumorigenesis. Instead, recent studies suggest that aneuploidy is a context-dependent, cancer-type-specific oncogenic event that may have clinical relevance as a prognostic marker and as a potential therapeutic target.

Indexed on Europe PMC as PubMed record 31548659 (DOI 10.1038/s41576-019-0171-x). Matched by DOI alone: one idea page cites this DOI among its external links (the pages are listed under Related), and this page was written so that the citation resolves inside OnCo. No figure has been checked by an editor.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-22
- Tags: europepmc-ingest
- Journal: Nature reviews. Genetics
- Year: 2020
- DOI: 10.1038/s41576-019-0171-x
- Authors: Ben-David U, Amon A
- What it means: One idea page on OnCo cites this paper by its DOI; this record gives the citation a page of its own so a reader can follow it without leaving OnCo. Read the abstract above alongside the citing page listed under Related; the record was created automatically from the Europe PMC entry and its figures have not been checked by hand.
- Caveats: Matched to the citing OnCo records by DOI alone; the summary reproduces the Europe PMC abstract and no figure has been verified against the full paper.

## Sources

- Nat Rev Genet 2020: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-019-0171-x
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31548659/
- Europe PMC: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/31548659

## Connected records

- ideas: [Is aneuploidy itself a druggable vulnerability?](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-targeting-aneuploidy/)

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