THE NATURE OF CANCER - MORPHOGENESIS AND PROGRESSIVE (SELF)-DISORGANIZATION IN NEOPLASTIC DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESSION

The aberrant forms of life, neoplasia and cancer, are discussed under the events at the beginning of neoplasia and under five classes of neo plastic lesions, The lesional classes are: 1) The precursor state; 2) Intermediate lesions; 3) Primary cancer; 4) Metastasis; and 5) Metasta sis from metastasis. The events at the beginning are a diverse group o f agents and mechanisms that induce the lesions of the precursor state , not cancer, The lesions and events produced by induction are similar regardless of the agent, Thus, there must be similar biological princ iples and mechanisms operative in different neoplastic systems, The cl asses of neoplastic lesions and cancer are described and a theory deri ved therefrom, The theory is: Any perturbation that alters a cell or g roup of cells and their stroma so that they no longer respond appropri ately to the forces of tissue, organ, and organismal maintenance, may induce a neoplastic system, The sequential progression of lesions of t he induced neoplastic system is the result of a successive series of f laws in the continuum of reciprocal interactions between a group of ce lls and their stroma, The flaws, appearing seriatim, produce progressi ve (self)-disorganization of the lesions and progressive loss of respo nse to the forces of tissue and organ maintenance.