A team co-led by cancer prevention researcher Ulrike “Riki” Peters, Ph.D., M.P.H., and biostatistician Hsu Li, Ph.D., at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have been studying the genes linked to colo-rectal cancer through the Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium. This is a collaboration involving researchers from North America, Australia and Europe who have pooled data from approximately 40,000 study participants, about half of whom have colo-rectal cancer.
All genetic variants that previously had not been associated with colo-rectal cancer:
4 genes associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer identified
]]>Weinberg proposes that the extraordinary complexity of the human body dictates the inevitability of cancer. He sees cancer as a disease of damaged genes and shows conclusively that the appearance of a tumour requires many successive genetic mutations.
These clever mutations must bypass the complex proteins that determine how a cell behaves and override the cell-cycle clock which governs decisions on when a cell grows, differentiates or dies.
He reveals 5 key natural ‘barriers’ that the malignant cell must overcome, for the body to develop cancer.
A dormant (proto) onco-gene needs to be bio-chemically transformed into an active onco-gene, by a mutagen (genetic or environmental carcinogen).
Simultaneously, the body’s first line of defence – a corresponding tumour-suppressor gene – needs to be deactivated. Both these destabilizing processes are resisted by the in-built circuit-breakers of the cell. .
To bypass this internal set of controls, the cell releases ‘growth-factors’ into its immediate surroundings, flooding it with unrelenting growth-stimulating signals.
To neutralise these, the body also produces growth-inhibiting h2 factors, which some tumour cells manage to escape.
A normal cell is endowed with a limited number of ‘doublings’, which naturally caps uncontrolled growth. Every cell contains a ‘generational clock’ i.e. a counting device which registers and records each time the cell passes through growth and division.
When the cell reaches its pre-determined limit of allotted doublings, the clock sounds a ‘telomerase alarm’ which tells the cell to stop growing, turn senescent and ultimately die.
Tumour cells not only learn to ignore this telomerase alarm, they actually resurrect telomerase, by accessing hidden information in their DNA and using it to make telomerase. Now they are able to regenerate indefinitely and bypass the generational clock.
The more drastic way is to induce a damaged cell to commit suicide. Apoptosis (a Greek word that describes a tree shedding its leaves) is a self-destruct program wired into every human cell.
When the cell senses serious DNA damage to itself, its p-53 protein acts as an emergency brake and activates its repair mechanism. However, should the DNA damage be massive, the p-53 protein will also activate the apoptosis program and instead of attempting repair, the cell will kill itself.
Tumour cells avoid or subvert apoptosis by undergoing a second mutation which somehow inactivates the p-53 protein. With its damage-response mechanism crippled, the cell can race ahead and replicate its damaged DNA, passing it on to descendent cells.
The absence of p-53 can amplify and enhance the rate of replication almost a thousand-fold. Worse still, if p-53 is knocked out by the mutation, such cells can survive for extended periods without oxygen or nutrients.
The immune system erects various additional lines of defence, including for example, natural killer (NK) cells and many others.
The book beautifully outlines how the errant cell successfully counters these 5 barriers … and how modern scientists are tantalisingly close to finding a lasting cure to the disease!
If all these hurdles are overcome, yet other difficulties loom.
Once the clump of cells reaches the one millimeter size, the normal process of diffusion no longer provides adequate nutrition or waste removal. Soon the cells starve (anoxis) and begin to choke on their own wastes. Once again, apoptosis can kick in and the cells may die.
Tumour cells respond by inventing a better way to access nutrients and remove wastes: they develop their own blood circulation system. By aping the surrounding normal cells, they secrete (angiogenic) growth factors and induce capillaries to grow into the clump of cancer cells. Finally, the tumour cells have direct access to oxygen-rich and nutrient-rich blood and their numbers begin to increase explosively.
Sooner or later, these distant colonies of tumour cells begin to compromise the functioning of the host tissues and organs. Only then does the overall system begin to break down and the patient placed at death’s door. It is truly a ‘fight-to-the-finish’.
‘One Renegade Cell‘ By Robert Weinberg
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Title | About the article |
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The Journey | Brandon Bays suggests a step-by-step approach to let go of lifelong emotional and physical blocks, and discovering the best in oneself. This is at the core of healing. |
You Can Heal Your Life | Louise was able to put her ideas into practice, when, diagnosed with cancer, she healed herself completely within six months – without drugs or surgery. Through her remarkable techniques, millions have harnessed the power of the mind to cure themselves of a host of ailments. |
The China Study | In his landmark book ‘The China Study’, T. Colin Campbell presents strong evidence, which correlates dietary habits with breast cancer. |
One Renegade Cell | In his riveting book One Renegade Cell, leading scientist and cell-biology expert Robert Weinberg reveals the internal ‘thrust-and-parry’ that goes on between a cancerous cell and the immune system, with stunning precision and clarity. |
Final Gifts | In their beautiful and profoundly moving book Final Gifts, hospice nurses Maggie Callahan and Patricia Kelley share their years of experience of caring for terminally ill patients. |
Getting Well Again | Getting Well Again is not just a book. It’s a window into the attitudes that can help one heal from cancer. |
As A Turning Point | Lawrence LeShan is considered the father of cancer psycho-therapy. His practice and research over 40 years shows how changing our approach to life together with medical treatment mobilises a compromised immune system for healing. |
You Can Conquer Cancer | Ian shares his personal experience as a cancer ‘thriver’ in this practical and inspiring guide for recovery and healing. |
The Healing Power Of Illness | Essentially, Dethlefsen and Dahlke show us that illness is a physical manifestation of our unresolved problems or unhealthy lifestyle. |
Anatomy Of The Spirit | Myss considers disease as being caused due to disruptions in one’s “energy field”. She illustrates how even cancer can be cured merely by creating positive energy through thought, word and deed. |
Reinventing Medicine | Based on the (re)discovery that our mind has a profound effect on one’s body/ health, medical practice now involves the ‘whole-person’, at all levels of their being, to participate in the healing process. |
Spontaneous Healing | Dr. Weil reiterates how our mind plays a key role in both causing and healing illness; and gives us a few anecdotes on how little precautions and altered mindsets that have changed peoples’ lives. |
The Budwig Diet | Dr. Johanna Budwig discovered in the early 1950’s, that a specific combination of flaxseed (linseed) oil and low-fat cottage cheese significantly increases the absorption of fats in the body’s cells. And when fat absorption improves, there is a corresponding reduction in tumor growth |
The Gerson Diet | Gerson was a pioneer who realised that diet, immunity and illness are closely linked. He let the world know that a carefully regulated diet can restore an impaired immune system to its best functioning and this is a crucial factor in healing. |
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