Figure 4. Correlation between the L_p, L_m and H and primary carcinoma size at the time of dissemination (N_d).

(a) Schematic illustration of effectively neutral (N) evolution and stringent subclonal selection (S), two distinct evolutionary modes that can occur during growth of the primary tumor or metastasis. It is assumed that metastatic dissemination occurs during expansion of the primary CRC where N_d corresponds to the size of the primary carcinoma at the time of dissemination. (b) The correlation between the timing of dissemination, N_d, and L_m, L_p or H, based on the spatial simulation of tumor growth (n=100 tumors for each scenario; Pearson’s r is reported). L_p and L_m correspond to the number of private clonal sSNVs (CCF>60% in one site and CCF<1% on the other site) in the whole primary carcinoma and metastasis, respectively and H=L_m/(L_p+1).