Evolutionary dynamics of two related malignant plasma cell lines

Cancer is the consequence of sequential acquisition of mutations within somatic cells. Mutations alter the relative reproductive fitness of cells, enabling the population to evolve in time as a consequence of selection. Cancer therapy itself can select for or against specific subclones. Given the large population of tumor cells, subclones inevitably emerge and their fate will depend on the evolutionary dynamics that define the interactions between such clones. Using a combination of in vitro studies and mathematical modeling, we describe the dynamic behavior of two cell lines isolated from the same patient at different time points of disease progression and show how the two clones relate to one another. We provide evidence that the two clones coexisted at the time of initial presentation. The dominant clone presented with biopsy proven cardiac AL amyloidosis. Initial therapy selected for the second clone that expanded leading to a change in the diagnosis to multiple myeloma. The evolutionary dynamics relating the two cell lines are discussed and a hypothesis is generated in regard to the mechanism of one of the phenotypic characteristics that is shared by these two cell lines.