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Table 1 Number of generations for a favourable mutation to become established in a tumour cell clone [20].

From: Population genetics of cancer cell clones: possible implications of cancer stem cells

Tumour Size (cm)

Number of cells

Estimated number of generations to establish a favourable mutation in a somatic cell clone

Estimated number of generations to establish a favourable mutation in a stem cell clone

0.1

4 189

6

1

0.5

523 599

8

3

1.0

4 188 790

9

4

2.0

33 510 322

10

5

3.0

11 3097 336

10

5

4.0

268 082 573

10

6

5.0

523 598 776

11

6

10.0

4 188 790 205

12

7

  1. The results are rounded to the nearest whole number. The results were calculated by assuming a fairly weak selective advantage of 0.01 for the new clone. The number of cells as calculated by determining the number of cubes, 50 micrometers on a side, which would fill a sphere representing a tumour of a given size. The number of stem cells is calculated by assuming one stem cell per 57 000 non-stem cells [28]. A greater proportion of stem cells would result in a less dramatic difference.