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142 points bookofjoe | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.222s | source
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hinkley ◴[] No.43797130[source]
Tumors excreting chemicals to prevent destruction doesn’t sound like DNA damage, that sounds like evolution.

We know some cancers can be caused by viruses. And we know a few cancers that act like viruses in dogs and Tasmanian devils, and some rare cases in humans.

We only figured out that ulcers are bacterial in origin within the lifetimes of many HN readers, and there are signs that other GI issues may be bacterial or viral (or bacteria-targeting viral) as well.

Maybe we need to start culturing and DNA testing cancers.

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Kalanos ◴[] No.43797208[source]
You're right, DNA damage is just one of the types of genetic variation in cancer. There are many other structural variations that act like remixes.

"Maybe we need to start culturing and DNA testing cancers." I assure you this is being done at a massive scale.

Due to cellular stress, cancer cells disobey multi-cellular governance. They behave more like independent organisms fighting for survival, reverting to primal programming.

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1. superfist ◴[] No.43797370[source]
The cancer problem always struck me as more of a control theory challenge than a purely biological one.