In today’s quickly growing medical field there seems to be no obstacle that science has yet to overcome. In visits to doctors or hospitals, we explain our symptoms and sure enough a few minutes later we walk out with a prescription in hand. Yet recently the battle against cancer has grown more difficult because ways to treat and cure patients has significantly narrowed. Cancer has become the greatest medical mystery due to inconclusive facts about the disease that remain unresolved. Therefore treatments like chemotherapy and radiation are showing less and less results and it is becoming more evident that cancer is being driven by the selective pressure of natural selection. This is why many scientists and researchers have begun to view cancer from an evolutionary and ecological lens broadening prospects that research is furthering and bringing society closer to a cure. The application of evolution and ecology to cancer is already helping us to better understand, predict and control this disease (Merlo 933.) Being able to look at cancer with a different perspective and approach can lead to countless discoveries and a better understanding of mutant cells that hold the ability to replicate and kill very quickly. The studies of cancer biology through evolution and ecology have brought insight from research as well as brought profound implications in understanding why current cancer treatment are failing and how radically new therapies might now arise.
Historically there has been very little attention that focuses on evolutionary biology and the understanding towards controlling neoplasm cell progression. Tumor cells develop constantly by natural selection and many are thought to continue evolving as they reproduce. The mai...
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...fferent; simply the rate of reproduction of an organism is much slower than a cell. This is why cancer tends to develop so quickly, the irony of cellular selection is that while the cell is evolving benefiting its evolutionary fitness, it happens at the expense of an individual. As further explained by “Another perspective on cancer”, “…cancerous cells have an advantage in comparison to other cells in the body, but are disadvantageous to the organism. Selection at the cellular level might wind up hampering the organism’s survival reproduction, acting in the exact opposition to selection at the individual level (____2.)”
Works Cited
Merlo, Lauren M.F, John W. Pepper, Brian J. Reild, and Carlo C. Maley. "Cancer as an Evolutionary and Ecological Process." Rev. of Evolutionary Theory of Cancer. Nature Publishing Group 6 (2006): 924-33. Academic Search Elite. Web.
Cancer occurs when cells divide uncontrollably. Cells keep dividing even though new cells are not needed. Change from normal to cancerous cells requires gene alterations.
This definition could be the reason why early treatment of a primary tumor is ineffective against metastatic tumor cells. As the definition suggests, the accepted model for the metastasis of tumor cells is through clonal evolution, where secondary tumors have similar genomes to the primary tumor. Recent studies suggest, however, that this may not be accurate.
The cancer stem cell theory hypothesizes that tumors or cancers arise from mutations or epigenetic changes in normal stem cells. These mutated or genetically altered stem cells possess the properties of the normal stem cells such as the ability to self-renew, differentiate into any type of body cell, and resist apoptosis. Hence, the cancer stem cells (CSC) are named so. It is also suggested that because of the above-mentioned properties of the cancer stem cells, the current anti-cancer therapies are not entirely successful (Gil et al, 2008). Despite surgery and other therapies, even if very few of these cancer stem cells survive, they can continue to act as a source for more tumors, even though the therapies eliminate all visible signs of cancer.
Cancer has been an active concern in our society for the past couple decades, since we truly discovered the nature of cancer and the potency it brings along with it. However, it was not until the mid-20th century that scientists were beginning to truly understand the origin of cancer. Scientists dating back all the way to the Renaissance, when they first began performing autopsies to learn more about the human body and form, noticed abnormalities but it never clicked that it was something much worse than it seemed. Research has continued since then, and it has continued to thrive even to this day. When James Watson and Francis Crick discovered DNA and it’s chemical structure in 1962, it opened up doors that even they could not expect. With the understanding of DNA and how it affected the way we look at life, came the beginning of the understanding of mutated DNA (which is a cause of the growth of cancerous cells). In this past century, researching scientists discovered that cancer is linked with the DNA that resides in a cell’s nucleus. By ways of damage to the cells via chemicals or radiation, or even introduction of a new DNA, the cancerous cells begin to form and duplicate. We are learning more and more about cancer and how to fight it, but we still have much more to learn.
Cancer is the term used to describe a group of diseases consisting of hundreds of ailments and although there exists so many different types of cancer, they all begin in a similar way. The body is made up of over a trillion cells, and cancer is the uncontrolled growth of malfunctioning cells in the body (Dawson, 1996). “Normal body cells grow, divide, and die in an orderly fashion. During the early years of a person’s life, normal cells divide faster to allow the person to grow. After the person becomes an adult, most cells divide only to replace worn-out or dying cells or to repair injuries” (American Cancer Society, 2012).
Cancer has been seen in humans as one the most potentially fatal disease for thousands of years and only in the recent couple of hundred years have we discovered that most information necessary to bring us to today’s understanding and knowledge (Kenny 2007, Weinberg 1996) was achieved by extensive research of cells, DNA, and epidemiology studies. As we know, currently cancer is acknowledged as having over a hundred different diseases, and is known to be the result of mutations of the genes and almost similar DNA which are responsible for the amount of cell division and production (Kenny 2007). Restraint of cell growth modulators can be a direct lead and result of certain tumours being developed and subsequently allow these tumours to acquire the ability to attack and occupy the bloodstream and essentially be able to travel via the bloodstream to other parts and organs in human bodies which is known as metastasis (Loeb et Al 2003). Once this has occurred , the cancer is then categorized as malicious and becomes a dangerous and serious threat to the carrier (Weinberg 1996). In this essay I will describe and explain the process of this and how our genes mutate and lead to metastasis of cancer cells.
...ks of cancer depicted in this article together dictate the malignant phenotype of cancer. These hallmarks of cancer are fundamental for cancer research, showing the remarkable similarity in the pathologic traits that are ultimate in tumor formation and progression. The original hallmarks include self-sufficiency in growth signals, insensitivity to anti-growth signals, tissue invasion and metastasis; limitless replicative potential, sustained angiogenesisand evasion of apoptosis in which cells must accumulate in order to become cancerous. Emerging hallmarks such as reprogramming of energy metabolism and evasion of the immune system have shown essential characteristics contributing to cancer cell progression, however, they have yet to be integrated into the canonical six hallmarks since whether or not they are pervasive in call types of cancers is still undetermined.
The American Cancer Society publishes current advances made in cancer research on their website. Many of the exciting discoveries about how best to treat the disease focus on the genetic aspects associated with certain types of cancer. In addition, treatments aimed at genetic solutions to cancer may be more effective and may cause fewer adverse side effects than traditional cancer treatments (American Can...
An ordinary human body contains approximately one trillion cells and precisely 46 chromosomes in each cell. However, the human body can be altered by a genetic mutation. Over the course of history, genetic mutations have had a large impact on the human race. They have brought harm to numerous amounts of people. Cancer, in particular, is one of the most lethal diseases. Cancer begins when a portion of DNA inside a chromosome is damaged, causing a cell to mutate. Then, the mutated cell reproduces multiple times and creates a tumor. Afterwards, cancer cells break off of the tumor, enter the bloodstream, and disperse throughout the body. If the cells break off, the tumor is considered malignant - this type of cancer is very difficult to cure. Many patients today stay optimistic for a medication to heal cancer. It is imperative to address a few of the causes and effects of cancer in order to gain a general knowledge of genetic mutations.
Throughout these many themes, however, slowly emerges Mukherjee’s main point: cancer is the uncontrolled, immortal version of ourselves. He begins this idea by comparing human civilization to cancer. He quotes, “civilization did not cause cancer, but by extending human life spans – civilization unveiled it,” and as humans continue to conquer the world, cancer joins the quest because not only is it “perhaps more adapted to survival than even we are, [but it is also] a successful invader and colonizer in part because it exploits the very features that make us successful as a species or as an organism” (Mukherjee 44 and 38). Just how humans have exploited and civilized the world, cancer has also emerged, growing rapidly and uncontrollably in the human body. Human colonization and civilization derived from a longing for power, legacy, and immortality, but ironically, as humans “seek immortality, then so…does the cancer cell” (6). In many ways, a cancer cell, with its ability to grow, adapt, and survive, is a more perfect version of a normal cell. Interestingly, however, the cancer cell grows and grows, using its body’s own machinery, until its quest for immortality kills itself. In The Biography of Cancer, as Mukherjee compares cancer and humans as beings of civilization and colonization who seek immortality and even calls cancer a more perfect version of the cell, he hints that it may be the
“Since 1990, over 6 million Americans have died of cancer, more than the combined casualties from the Civil war, WWII, and the Vietnam and Korean conflicts combined” (Faguet, p. 5). According to American Cancer Society projections, there were 1,529,560 new cases of cancer in 2010. Cancer is becoming more and more common around the world. New cancers are constantly being discovered. Researchers are finding new ways to detect cancer and treat it so that the fatality rate does not rise. However, there are some cancers that researchers have not yet discovered a cure for. It is very important for Cancer Research to continue so that one day these cancers will no longer be a treat.
Researchers over centuries have been examining various cellular aspect of cancer as well as the knowledge of what separates a normal cell from a cancerous cell. The advancement of technology plays a large role in the research development of cancer. It is evident that there are different factors that contribute to the rapid growth of cancer cells. Thu, justifying the complex nature of cancer and the need for continual research needed to be able to have a complete understanding of the disease cancer.
By medical definition, a malignant neoplasm is diagnosed on the basis of four main qualities: unrestrained growth, consumption of surrounding tissues, spreading to satellite regions and de-differentiation of cells. According to Dr. Hern, the human population reflects each of these characteristics in some way. He anchors his argument by systematically linking each of these four cancer indicators to the effect of humans on their environment. A summary of his points include the following:
Though the premise of the evolutionary biology of cancer is not a new topic, there has been a rise in studies focusing on this...
Tumors are formed by the alteration of the body’s own cells. This can be caused by environmental factors such as radiation, like UV exposure, chemicals or viruses 1. These can disrupt genes that control growth and cause an increase in cell division and proliferation. Proto-oncogenes are those genes that control normal but essential cell processes that keep cell growth and death in check. Two important categories are apoptosis genes, which regulate cell death, and tumor suppressor genes, which decrease cell propagation 1 . If these genes were mutated to the point where they cannot produce a functioning protein, cell division would continue far past what it was supposed to and unhealthy cells would be allowed to live and continue to multiply. This is what creates a malignant tumor. Certain conditions in the body can also promote the growth of cancer cells. One of these is a deficiency of natural killer (NK) cells, which are able to kill cancer cells by creating a pore in the cell membrane with perforin and releasing granzymes into the cell. Low levels of perforin allow for tumor growth 1. Chronic inflammation can also ...