17 January 2021 - Curing Cancer - Part 5 - Key network issues that affect the primary tumor

This is my fifth essay about curing cancer based on the principles of complexity theory (follow my blog at https://natpernickshealthblog.wordpress.com/). This essay discusses key network issues for curative treatment that affect the primary tumor, including: (1) kill as many tumor cells as possible, (2) attack multiple targets within local tumor networks and (3) move local tumor cell networks into less lethal states. See http://www.natpernick.com/CuringCancerPart5.html or http://www.natpernick.com/CuringCancerPart5.pdf. 

Comments to Nat@PathologyOutlines.com

I briefly discuss the concept of an attractor. Cells have thousands of reactions occurring simultaneously, and each cell has the same DNA that allows it to become 350+ different cell types (muscle, skin, thyroid, etc.), so why are cells so stable? It turns out that the interactions between each reaction and cell create constraints that limit what they can do, which is called an "attractor".

This is not so different from human interactions. Today, I could decide to try to become a basketball player, but it is not likely I would make all the necessary changes to move in that direction. These constraints and other control mechanisms provide stability that prevent cells from becoming malignant. On the other hand, once cells do become malignant, they also have "cancer attractors", and it is hard to change them back. This is why chemotherapy is often ineffective.