I first posted this in the
Modern History thread as I had forgotten about this thread. The 1999 article was important in that it helped define "cancer." There are actually a cluster of diseases that are all called cancer, usually called something like skin cancer, cancer of the brain, breast cancer, etc. Leukemia is also a form of cancer that is sometimes referred to as "cancer of the blood" or "blood cancer." So, the 1999 article was significant in furthering a better understanding of the traits that all of these cancer types had in common.
In the fall of 1999, Robert Weinberg and Douglas Hanahan published an article entitled "The Hallmarks of Cancer." In it they describe what they viewed as six essential alterations in cell physiology that collectively dictate the malignant growth of cancer:
Self-sufficiency in growth signals: cancer cells acquire an autonomous drive to proliferate - pathological mitosis - by virtue of the activation of oncogenes (cancer causing genes) such ras or myc
Insensitivity to growth-inhibitory (antigrowth) signals: cancer cells inactivate tumor suppressor genes, such as retinoblastoma (Rb , that normally inhibit growth.
Evasion of programmed cell death (apoptosis): cancer cells suppress and inactivate genes and pathways that normally enable cells to die.
Limitless replicative potential: cancer cells activate specific gene pathways that render them immortal even after generations growth.
supply of blood and blood vessels - tumor angiogenesis.
Sustained angiogenesis:: cancer cells acquire the capacity to draw out their own supply of blood and and blood vessels - tumor angiogenesis.
Tissue invasion and metastastisis: cancer cells acquire the capacity to migrate to other organ organs, invade other tissues, and colonize these organs, resulting in their spread throughout the body.
From The
Emperor off All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
Although the different forms of cancer share the traits Weinberg and Hanahan discuss, they all have different treatment protocols with different levels of lethality following diagnosis. So, speaking of "a cure for cancer" is possibly a little misleading. More likely, individualized cures for each of the different cancer types will need to be developed. It would be an especially dramatic and unlikely occurrence if some singular break-through were to occur that would result in the cure of all known forms of cancer.
Don't mourn, organize.
-Joe Hill
