Further notes about the morphostasis concept – split files

(54) Cancer therapy

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the concept of immunological surveillance for cancer was condemned, as a bankrupt concept, by several groups of the cancer cognoscenti.

Now we need to reassess this perspective – and the (probably) still dominat idea that cancer is caused by mutations. Let's not get this wrong; I am not saying that mutation has nothing to do with cancer. In a large number of cancers it is facilitative but no more than that. The tissue field probably plays the major "causative" role with the mutations just being the "opportunists" that now have the opportunity to become the dominant population in the abnormal tissue field. Fix the abnormal tissue filed and the cancers could melt away.

We have always had anecdotal reports of the spontaneous remission of cancer but this has been hard to study. Now, we have strong suggestive evidence that the immune system is intimately involved in cancer pathogensis. And, what is much more important, are the reports of the total remission of some cancers (malanomas in particular) – even when moving towards a normally terminal phase of the illness. This clearly estblishes that the holy grail of cure is now a distinct possibility for just about all cancers should we be able to work out the necessary therapeutic immune manipulations that can effect this.