Diversity and Plasticity of Childhood Tumors (DePiCT)

Childhood cancers represent the second cause of death in children in developed countries. Most of these tumors develop from embryonal tissues and constitute, in contrast to adult tumors, accidents of development rather than of tissue renewal or ageing. Different characteristics distinguish childhood from adult cancers and may appear as elements of relative simplicity to study their mechanisms of initiation and progression: the low number of genetic alterations which probably account for a limited role of genetic instability, the low exposure of children to environmental mutagenic factors and the very rapid development of these tumors which suggest a limited number of oncogenic steps.