cancer thoughts - не читать
what is the essence of cancer? What do we know about it? A lot, but in the same time almost nothing. We still don’t have any conception of cancer. By definition cancer in terms of any malignancy (strictly speaking – the term malignancy is wider than the term cancer) is something that can be defined according to its properties. The first and the main one is proliferation control lost. Normal cell and therefore tissue has limited capacity of proliferation. Is does divide, but it has a lot of to besides of that. The cell ability to play its physiological role, has certain look, shape, whatever is defined as cell differentiation. Malignant cell has the only one aim – proliferate. It needs a lot of energy. People die out of cancer not because the cancer is too bad itself. It is neutral, it is parasite, not more. It does not care about anything – the only things it cares are to proliferate (grow) and to eat more for it. People die out of cancer because it eats all the energy. It catches al the incoming energy it could; grows and catches more. It does not catch bread or meat – it catches the final products: oxygen to breath and glucose to eat.
The normal cell has two aims – (i) to proliferate – reproduce itself (there are a few exception – some blood cells [they are too busy with their function]; sperm cells and oocytes – pure reproductive function). (ii) to carry some function – which is related with cell differentiation.
The cell, normal cell, has a few ways – (i) to grow [proliferation], to enter the normal cell cycle, divide and has two daughter cells as normal as itself with the same properties; (ii) cell may die [necrosis], die because it became old and cannot proliferate and carry function anymore; (iii) cell may die by the very special death called programmed cells death [apoptosis], with the very defined characteristics; (iv) cell may become malignant.
Actually we don’t know a lot what leads to the certain result. We can kill cell by some poison – it will die – necrosis. We can induce apoptosis by certain special compounds; we can add something (oncogenes) to the cell population in experiment in vivo and turn cells to the malignancy. So, you could see, I wrote not too much, that we don’t really have any conception what cancer is in its essence. There are some theories – (i) virus theory that viruses cause the genes damages which lead to the malignant properties; (ii) mistake theory – that during cell lifetime some mistakes is biochemical processes and gene production and regulation occur. These typical mistakes accumulate and then result in cancer.
To my understanding, better to say – feeling – cancer has the same/similar essence as normality. It is as normal as, it is just different. It is the model of immortal life, because cancer is immortal by definition. Cancer cell lines could live forever in experimental conditions – they have nutrition, oxygen. Cancer cell lines derived from people 30-40 years ago still live and are in use in the experiments, as those people have died long ago.
I spoke with some very top cancer scientists about it. They just say – what you are saying is not something new – it is like this by definition, but the way you put it is a bit unusual. No one respects cancer for its immortality.
I feel that it should be some point we don’t see. It should be some conception about cancer that we don’t have so far. We think that we are we as we are, but the cancer that we might have is also we, not even part of us. I am not sure that I could manage to put my idea in correct shape. I am also sure that this subject is not a priority for you to investigate. I am looking and I will be looking further for the conception that could help me to understand cancer better