In a provocative new essay published in PLOS Biology, ISB Professor Sui Huang and colleagues argue that the prevailing view of cancer as a purely genetic disease needs to be rethought.
For decades, cancer research has largely focused on the idea that tumors arise from an accumulation of genetic mutations in otherwise normal cells. This paradigm has driven massive genome sequencing projects, such as The Cancer Genome Atlas, in search of cancer-causing mutations and the development of targeted therapies.
However, Huang and his co-authors highlight key inconsistencies in this somatic mutation theory. Many cancers lack identifiable driver mutations, and some healthy tissues carry mutations long believed to cause cancer, yet never become cancerous. These contradictions, the authors argue, point to the need for alternative explanations.
The essay proposes a more holistic understanding of ca
