Cancer cells and two immune cells
Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library/Alamy
Cancer is a disease, or a group of diseases, in which some cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body. But this description doesn’t reflect how our concept of cancer has changed, says Kenneth Pienta Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland said: “People used to think of cancer as a form of bad luck. Cancer just changes over time, and we don’t really understand why, how, or what causes that change. did not.”
But in recent years, Pienta and his colleagues have come to think of cancer as more like an organism itself, existing in a complex ecosystem with other cancer cells and host immune cells. Cancer cells compete for access to nutrients, and only the fittest survive. “Cancer evolves in response to changes in its environment,” Pienta says. “If you don’t, you’ll die.”
After all, this is why cancer kills so many people. Because cancer cells divide rapidly, random mutations occur frequently and advantageous ones are quickly selected. “Cancer cells evolve to be the best cancer cells possible, and this is usually bad news for patients.” Robert Gatenby Co-director of the Cancer Biology and Evolution Program at Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida.
Additionally, the toughest cells are best at entering the bloodstream and spreading to other parts of the body. This process is called metastasis. “For most types of cancer, there are good drugs and early treatments,” Gatenby says. “But in metastatic cancer…
Source: www.newscientist.com
