Chromothripsis is a mutational phenomenon in which a single catastrophic event generates extensive rearrangements of one or a few chromosomes. This extreme form of genome instability has been detected in 30–50% of cancers. Studies conducted in the past few years have uncovered insights into how chromothripsis arises and deciphered some of the cellular and molecular consequences of chromosome shattering. This Review discusses the defining features of chromothripsis and describes its prevalence across different cancer types as indicated by the manifestations of chromothripsis detected in human cancer samples. The different mechanistic models of chromothripsis, derived from in vitro systems that enable causal inference through experimental manipulation, are discussed in detail. The contribution of chromothripsis to cancer development, the selective advantages that cancer cells might gain from chromothripsis, the evolutionary trajectories of chromothriptic tumours, and the potential vulnerabilities and therapeutic opportunities presented by chromothriptic cells are also highlighted.

染色体分裂是一种突变现象，其中单个灾难性事件导致一条或几条染色体的广泛重排。这种极端形式的基因组不稳定性已在 30-50% 的癌症中检测到。过去几年进行的研究揭示了染色体分裂如何产生的见解，并破译了染色体断裂的一些细胞和分子后果。本综述讨论了染色体脱毛的定义特征，并描述了其在不同癌症类型中的患病率，如在人类癌症样本中检测到的染色体脱毛的表现所示。详细讨论了染色体分裂的不同机制模型，这些模型源自通过实验操作实现因果推理的体外系统。还强调了染色体分裂对癌症发展的贡献、癌细胞可能从染色体分裂中获得的选择性优势、染色体分裂肿瘤的进化轨迹以及染色分裂细胞带来的潜在脆弱性和治疗机会。