A New View of Cancer
Why does cancer relapse? Intriguingly, for some cancers, this regenerative power appears to be driven by a specific cell type lurking within the cancer that is capable of dormancy, growth and infinite regeneration — a cancer “stem cell.” If tumors contain dedicated stem cells, then delivering maximal doses of poisons to kill the bulk of the tumor might achieve one response — a shrinkage of the tumor — but have no effect on relapse. If the rare stem cell lurking within a tumor somehow escapes death, then it will reassert itself and grow again. Cancers will come back like a garden that has been cleared by hacking at its weeds while leaving the roots behind.
The entire New York Times article is worth a read.
I read an article in Scientific American about bacteria that kills cancer cells. Apparently, in the 1800s it was observed that cancer patients that contracted gangrene experienced tumor shrinkage before later succumbing to gangrene. There is renewed interest in the field not as a primary cancer drug but as part of a cocktail or combo therapy.
Interesting concept. It implies that the normal way we have been fighting cancer is all wrong.
We need a new theory of cancer. The old theories are obviously not working.
The revelations over the past couple of years about how most ovarian cancer originates in the Fallopian tubes were interesting as well.
Interesting idea.
This means that Alternative Medical practicianers will no longer be disrespected on this site, right? I’ve read books explaining this from the 1960s. It was just explained by someone without the right credentials, so never went anywhere.
It doesn’t matter if a scientific theory is valid, only that the experts are officially sanctioned.
Though that might be fixed if we had a free Market in medicine. Go John!