Cancer as a form of life: Musings of the cancer and evolution symposium

• Published in: Progress in biophysics and molecular biology Vol. 165; pp. 120 - 139
• Main Author: Paul, Doru
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2021
• Subjects: Cancer models; Development; ecology; evolution; Metastasis; Systems biology; Development; ecology; evolution; Metastasis; Cancer models; Systems biology
• ISSN: 0079-6107; 1873-1732; 1873-1732
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2021.05.003

Advanced cancer is one of the major problems in oncology as currently, despite the recent technological and scientific advancements, the mortality of metastatic disease remains very high at 70–90%. The field of oncology is in urgent need of novel ideas in order to improve quality of life and prognostic of cancer patients. The Cancer and Evolution Symposium organized online October 14–16, 2020 brought together a group of specialists from different fields that presented innovative strategies for better understanding, preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer. Today still, the main reasons behind the high incidence and mortality of advanced cancer are, on one hand, the paucity of funding and effort directed to cancer prevention and early detection, and, on the other hand, the lack of understanding of the cancer process itself. I argue that besides being a disease, cancer is also a form of life, and, this frame of reference may provide a fresh look on this complex process. Here, I provide a different angle to several contemporary cancer theories discussing them from the perspective of “cancer-forms of life” (i.e. bionts) point of view. The perspectives and the several “bionts” introduced here, by no means exclusive or comprehensive, are just a shorthand that will hopefully encourage the readers, to further explore the contemporary oncology theoretical landscape.