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The purpose of this blog is to improve the quality of life of cancer survivors. This blog hopes to accomplish this goal by publicizing new research on quality of life for cancer survivors and identify programs and strategies that may help cancer survivors accomplish their goals.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Review: Emperor of all maladies, part 5: theories


Theories
  • 160 Humoral theory of cancer (an excess of black bile) put forth by Romans
  • 1533 Humoral theory of cancer disproved by the 1st comprehensive anatomical mapping of a human with confirmed cancer (though the author was so loathe to contradict years of tradition that he still supported the humoral theory)
  • 1902 Neoplasm theory of cancer put forth (though not understood)
  • early 1900s Halstead puts forth the centrifugal theory of cancer metastases, which supports the need for more aggressive surgeries
  • 1909 Viral theory of cancer put forth after discovering a single virus caused cancer in chickens
  • Somatic Theory of Cancer/somatic mutation hypothesis argues that environmental carcinogens mutate cells to cause cancer
  • 1950s: 3 main theories: viral theory (most widely accepted), somatic theory (a strong second), and the least accepted theory (which turns out to be most right) that cancer is caused by genes in the cell cause cancer
  • 1963 Henry Kaplan discovers/realizes that not only the type of cancer but the stage of caner dictates the needed therapy (difference between him and Halstead: he accepts his own idea whereas Halstead rejects it) but it will still be decades before oncologists accept that there is not a universal cure
  • late 1960s: Total therapy theory dictates that multiple chemos, surgery, and radiation all have to be used. Does prove to be most effective, and is model mostly used today, but was nicknamed “Total hell therapy”
  • 1999 Weinberg and Hanahan put forth the 6 rules of cancer
1.      Self sufficiency in growth signals
2.      insensitivity to growth inhibitory signals
3.      evasion of programmed cell death
4.      limitless replicative potential
5.      sustained angiogenesis (they force blood vessels to come to them)
6.      tissue invasion and metastasis

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