Fifty years ago, the War on Cancer was declared by US President Nixon. Today, cancer remains largely undefeated. A recent article in the journal PLoS Biology discusses how most research funding, both governmental and pharmaceutical, may be based on incorrect beliefs about the way cancer begins.
The commonly accepted theory of cancer development, the Somatic Mutation Theory, states that cancer develops when a cell suffers a mutation in its genetic material that makes it reproduce uncontrollably, and that this mutation is irreversible. With this theory, researchers and physicians focus on surgically removing the
cancer, poisoning it with chemotherapy or radiation, or interfering with the cellular mechanisms that are abnormal, in order to kill or control the “renegade cell.”
The authors of the PLoS Biology
paper, Drs. Carlos Sonnenschein and Ana Soto of Tufts University School of Medicine, have a different viewpoint, the Tissue Organization Field Theory. This theory states that cancer develops as a result of chronic abnormal interactions in the tissue that eventually forms a tumor. Rather than the result of a “renegade cell,” here the problem is “development gone awry,” and the genetic mutations seen in cancer are a byproduct rather than a cause. The authors
then break down the findings in cancer research that support the Tissue Organization Field Theory, but that are difficult to explain in the Somatic Mutation model.
The full article may be challenging reading for some of you, but a summary table from the article, comparing the two theories, can be found by clicking here and may be more digestible.
What are the practical implications? With the predominant Somatic Mutation Theory, if cancer is caused by an irreversible genetic mutation, it makes sense that orthodox medicine is so dismissive of anything outside their cut/burn/poison armamentarium for the treatment of cancer.
But in the Tissue Organization Field Theory, the terrain in which the cancer lives is the source of the problem, and therefore can be the solution as well. This opens up a whole host of possibilities, including all the aspects of the protocol I offer – diet, supplements, pancreatic enzymes, detoxification. Indeed, much of the Tissue Organization Field Theory reminds me of Dr. Beard’s theories, including that cancer is “development gone awry” and that genetic mutations are a byproduct, not a cause, of cancer development.
