Of criminals and cancer: The importance of social bonds and innate morality on cellular societies.
Cells Dev
; : 203964, 2024 Aug 14.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39151750
ABSTRACT
The current dogma in cancer biology contends that cancer is an identity problem:
mutations in a cell's DNA cause it to "go rogue" and proliferate out of control. However, this largely ignores the role of cell-cell interaction and fails to explain phenomena such as cancer reversion, the existence of cancers without mutations, and foreign-body carcinogenesis. In this proof-of-concept paper, we draw on criminology to propose that cancer may alternatively be conceptualized as a relationalproblem:
Although a cell's genetics is essential, the influence of its interaction with other cells is equally important in determining its phenotype. We create a simple agent-based network model of interactions among normal and cancer cells to demonstrate this idea. We find that both high mutation rates and low levels of connectivity among cells can promote oncogenesis. Viewing cancer as a breakdown in communication networks among cells in a tissue complements the gene-centric paradigm nicely and provides a novel perspective for understanding and treating cancer.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Cells Dev
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Country of publication:
Netherlands