The “Multicellular Origin” of Cancer and the Clonal Evolution of Oncogenesis

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M. Mark Karindas^*

∗Correspondence author e-mail: m.karindas@wamsci.org: The World Academy of Medical Sciences, Netherlands

Abstract

Cancer cells are the result of the multi-step, multi-dimensional and multi-generational process of oncogenesis, but they are never the products of cellular transformation. When a stem cell divides, asymmetrically or symmetrically, it produces two new (new generation) cells, a differentiated daughter cell and a daughter which is a parent-identical stem-cell, or two identical daughter stem cells, respectively. In either case, the daughter cells, differentiated or parent-identical, have their own individuality and character. A daughter cell is not a transformed parent cell; it has its own cellular identity, genotype and phenotype although it carries its parent’s genotypical and phenotypical features. The term “Cellular Transformation” in today’s Medical Research Literature, which refers to neoplastic cellular changes, is unintentionally amiss, but scientifically delusive; it implies a solitary cellular reign that misleadingly suggests a “single cell” origin for oncogenesis. In any living multicellular organism, whose multicellular existence and functionality is totally based on intercellular subsistence, a multicellular act or happening is absolutely impossible to start with or from a solitary cell action. In multicellular organisms, in vivo, malignant neoplasms, including leukemias, which all are the products of highly organized cellular teamwork from the very beginning, never arise from single cells; they arise from groups of cells.

Keywords: Oncogenesis; Evolution of oncogenesis; Malignant transformation; Multicellular origin of cancer; Cancer stem cell; Dormancy; Microenvironment; Metastasis

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