OPINION:
Mutated genes, resulting from spontaneous and/or carcinogenic changes, are necessary but not sufficient for cancer formation. There is evidence that inflammation is required to activate the mutated genes before cancer develops.
But why do only some people in a group with the same gene mutation, family history, environment and behavior develop cancer?
It is known that our immune system kills some cancer cells. What if, out of the thousands of still-unidentified human biochemicals, some make up an undiscovered part of our immune system that effectively protects us from cancer — but only when those chemicals are present at sufficiently high levels?
The incidence of cancer increases with age. The reason for this is believed to be related to the accumulation of gene mutations during our lifetime. But what if this increase is actually evidence of the existence of the ’hidden’ cancer-killing part of the immune system?
What I mean is this: Many biochemicals become depleted as we age, and many that are still unidentified could be cancer killers that drop to levels where they become ineffective. What if pediatric cancer is caused by a rare premature depletion of one or more of those cancer-killers?
What if, in all cancer patients, the degree of depletion and its duration and frequency determine survivability?
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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