Abstract
Cancer is commonly described as the uncontrolled reproduction of abnormal cells in the body. This definition enacts the disease as a local process, whose temporality is linear. In this article we challenge this approach, from a case study on breast cancer, analysed from the actor-network theory. Starting from the conception of disease as a material-semiotic trajectory, we establish the role of regulation and the processes of pre-symptomatic diagnosis in the materiality of cancer. Echoing the proposal of Alfred North Whitehead, we define cancer as a potential object. Then, we describe how propositions are articulated in biomedical patients, affect their anatomy and establish an authentic embodiment, which acts as a socio-material assemblage. We conclude that it is necessary to think about interventions that consider the heterogeneity of the material aspects that come with cancer, conceived from this perspective.
Highlights
El cáncer es comúnmente descrito como la reproducción incontrolada de células anormales en el cuerpo
Cancer is commonly described as the uncontrolled reproduction of abnormal cells in the body
Starting from the conception of disease as a material-semiotic trajectory, we establish the role of regulation and the processes of pre-symptomatic diagnosis in the materiality of cancer
Summary
El cáncer es comúnmente descrito como la reproducción incontrolada de células anormales en el cuerpo. Esta definición constituye la enfermedad como un proceso local, cuya temporalidad es lineal. Iniciando desde la concepción de la enfermedad como una trayectoria semiótico-material, establecemos el papel que juegan la regulación y los procesos de diagnóstico pre-sintomático en la materialidad del cáncer. Haciendo eco de la propuesta de Alfred North Whitehead, definimos el cáncer como un objeto potencial. Describimos cómo las proposiciones biomédicas se articulan en las pacientes, afectan su anatomía y establecen una auténtica corporización que se comporta como un agenciamiento socio-material. Concluimos que se hace necesario pensar en intervenciones que consideren la heterogeneidad de aspectos materiales que conlleva el cáncer concebido desde esta perspectiva
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