A common link in the mechanism of the self-maintenance of malignant growth: The syndrome of the nonhealing wound

Abstract

A general principle of the maintenance of malignant growth in all types of tumors has been formulated. According to this principle, stochastic but continuous death of some tumor cells due to the inherent genetic instability of their genome (fragility of chromosomes) is the main event stimulating tumor growth. The dead cells trigger a complex multicomponent process of wound healing expressed as further proliferation of living tumor cells, angiogenesis, stimulation of cell migration, and other events. Stimulation of the proliferation of living cells leads to further death of cells and, as a result, to further stimulation of the system of wound healing, etc. Thus, the tumor sacrifices a small amount of dying cells to stimulate proliferation of all its other cells. It is proposed that the nature of the genetic instability of malignant cells is related to the appearance of an uninemic structure in some regions of chromosomes, in whole chromosomes, or in whole genomes. The author bases his statements on the binemic structure of chromosomes, which has already been experimentally and theoretically substantiated. Uninemic regions have an exceedingly high frequency of spontaneous chromosome aberrations due to blockage of the mechanism of underlying repair of the DNA double break in the absence of a second DNA copy. Possible approaches to a search for more efficient methods of therapy are discussed.