The History And Evolution Of The Somatic Mutation Theory - Cancer Series Part 2

The consensus theory explaining the cause of cancer is called the Somatic Mutation Theory. It has guided research and treatment in cancer for over 70 years. Let's examine its (non) validity.

In this post, I plan to, as succinctly and simply as possible, introduce the two competing theories regarding the origin of cancer and then go through the evidence for the current “consensus” theory which is called the Somatic Mutation Theory or SMT. The competing theory, called the Metabolic Theory of Cancer (MTOC) will be summarized in my next post in this series.

First, let’s define cancer. From the seminal paper “Hallmarks of Cancer” by Weinberg and Hanahan, a cell is defined as “cancerous” when they exhibit these 8 characteristics;

1. it stimulates its own growth

2. it evades growth suppressing signals

3. it resists cell death (apoptosis)

4. it enables replicative immortality

5. it induces the ability to grow new blood vessels to further tumor growth (angiogenesis)

6. it spreads to distant sites (metastasis)

7. it has the ability to evade the immune system

8. it has a “reprogramming of energy metabolism” (the “Warburg Effect)

In layman’s speak - cancer is the uncontrolled growth of a cell - ever dividing and not …