Cheating Cell: How Evolution Helps Us Understand and Treat Cancer

The Cheating Cell is a groundbreaking reassessment of how we view and manage cancer, showing that by understanding its evolutionary origins, researchers can develop more effective, revolutionary treatments. It illustrates how evolution has paved the way for cancer's ubiquity and why it will exist as long as multicellular life does, but evolutionary approaches offer new and promising options for disease prevention and treatments that aim at long-term management rather than simple eradication.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 07 September 2021
Publisher: Princeton University Press

A fundamental and groundbreaking reassessment of how we view and manage cancer is presented in "The Cheating Cell." When we consider the factors driving cancer, evolution may not immediately come to mind. However, a close relationship exists between evolution and cancer, as the historical processes that gave rise to life also contributed to the development of cancer.

The book delves into this extraordinary relationship and demonstrates that by understanding the evolutionary origins of cancer, researchers can develop more effective and revolutionary treatments. Athena Aktipis takes us back billions of years to explore the transition from unicellular forms to multicellular organisms. Within these cooperative bodies of cells, cheating ones emerged, overusing resources and replicating out of control, leading to the emergence of cancer. Aktipis illustrates how evolution has paved the way for cancer's ubiquity and why it will persist as long as multicellular life exists.

However, it is important to note that this does not mean we should give up on treating cancer. In fact, evolutionary approaches offer new and promising options for disease prevention and treatments that focus on long-term management rather than simple eradication. By examining species across different domains, from sponges and cacti to dogs and elephants, we are discovering novel mechanisms of tumor suppression and the diverse ways in which multicellular life forms have evolved to maintain control over cancer.

By accepting that cancer is a part of our biological past, present, and future, treatments can become smarter, more strategic, and more humane. "The Cheating Cell" unifies the latest research from biology, ecology, medicine, and social science to challenge our understanding of cancer's fundamental nature and our relationship to it. It encourages us to rethink our approaches to cancer care and treatment, focusing on strategies that align with our evolutionary history and promote overall well-being.

Weight: 242g
Dimension: 133 x 203 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691212197