@article{fdi:010077754,
  title = {{C}an postfertile life stages evolve as an anticancer mechanism ?},
  author = {{T}homas, {F}. and {G}iraudeau, {M}. and {R}enaud, {F}. and {U}jvari, {B}. and {R}oche, {B}enjamin and {P}ujol, {P}. and {R}aymond, {M}. and {L}emaitre, {J}. {F}. and {A}lvergne, {A}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{W}hy a postfertile stage has evolved in females of some species has puzzled evolutionary biologists for over 50 years. {W}e propose that existing adaptive explanations have underestimated in their formulation an important parameter operating both at the specific and the individual levels: the balance between cancer risks and cancer defenses. {D}uring their life, most multicellular organisms naturally accumulate oncogenic processes in their body. {I}n parallel, reproduction, notably the pregnancy process in mammals, exacerbates the progression of existing tumors in females. {W}hen, for various ecological or evolutionary reasons, anticancer defenses are too weak, given cancer risk, older females could not pursue their reproduction without triggering fatal metastatic cancers, nor even maintain a normal reproductive physiology if the latter also promotes the growth of existing oncogenic processes, e.g., hormone-dependent malignancies. {A}t least until stronger anticancer defenses are selected for in these species, females could achieve higher inclusive fitness by ceasing their reproduction and/or going through menopause (assuming that these traits are easier to select than anticancer defenses), thereby limiting the risk of premature death due to metastatic cancers. {B}ecause relatively few species experience such an evolutionary mismatch between anticancer defenses and cancer risks, the evolution of prolonged life after reproduction could also be a rare, potentially transient, anticancer adaptation in the animal kingdom.},
  keywords = {},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{PL}o{S} {B}iology},
  volume = {17},
  numero = {12},
  pages = {e3000565 [19 p.]},
  ISSN = {1544-9173},
  year = {2019},
  DOI = {10.1371/journal.pbio.3000565},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010077754},
}