Abstract
The paradigm of the Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT) is failing, and a new paradigm is underway but not yet established. What is being challenged is a conceptual approach that involves the entire human biology and the development of chronic diseases. The behavior of breast and other solid cancers is compatible with the concept that the primary tumor is able to control its microscopic metastases, in the same way that an organ (e.g., the liver) is able to control its physiological size. This finding suggested that cancer and its metastases may behave as an organoid. The new paradigm under construction considers the origin of tumors as a disturbance in the communication network between tissue cell populations and between cells and extracellular matrix, and supports a systemic approach to the study of both healthy and pathologic tissues. The commentary provides a rationale for the role of physical exercise in the control of tumor dormancy according to a human evolutionary perspective.
Highlights
The paradigm of the Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT) is failing, and a new paradigm is underway but not yet established
Science history is a chain of paradigms guiding behaviours and research, which are able to provide a temporary useful picture of reality but are usually destined to face failures [1], forcing scientists to devise new paradigms, which are valuable until they fail in turn
As cancer biologists and oncologists, the writers are experiencing one of these transitional moments: the old paradigm, called Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT), is failing and a new paradigm is in the making but not yet established
Summary
I.e., reasoned descriptions of what we believe reality should be. As cancer biologists and oncologists, the writers are experiencing one of these transitional moments: the old paradigm, called Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT), is failing and a new paradigm is in the making but not yet established. This process is not limited to oncology, because what is being challenged in this specific field is a conceptual approach that involves the entire human biology and the development of chronic diseases. SMT essentially ignores the host, who is another player in the clinical history of people suffering from cancer, and capable of establishing a balance with the disease in its etiopathogenesis and clinical history, such that it allows some mammary carcinomas to remain dormant for life while others grow rapidly to kill the host [15,16]
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