Chaodynamic loss of complexity and self-similarity in cancer

'Omnis cellula a cellula': each cell descends from another cell - and most complex organ structures are built up of multiple cells at least. Even the underlying mechanisms of physiological as well as pathological processes re flect complexity in a pronounced manner. Loss of complexity, however, has b een detected in aging and apparently also in the case of a number of diseas es. This paper describes the loss of complexity in both carcinogenesis and the related growth pattern of cancer. After disruption of the cell's stabil ity as a result of mutations, a decrease in the ability of the cell to indu ce a self-organized response is associated with the loss of control paramet ers at the cellular and molecular level. Complexity, understood as a princi ple of order, is altered in certain malignant tumors, as is indicated by a loss of the golden mean and by the disappearance of self-similarity. The la ck of self-similarity could, therefore, be an ideal practical marker of mal ignancy in medical image analysis.