Cancer and Organism maintain Equilibrium

It is generally believed that cancer results from uncontrolled growth of the tumor. When a normal cell becomes cancerous, it defies growth control and starts dividing, turning into a tumor which grows exponentially. While all body constituents maintain an equilibrium known as homeostasis, tumor cells defy it. This false metaphor shapes medical treatment.

Cancer homeostasis

In reality all along  cancer progression tumor and organism (WOB) maintain an equilibrium (homeostasis), which is disrupted only at time of death. Not only cancer,  but any condition in the body maintains homeostasis.  Non-equilibrium results when organism is in a grave danger and may even die. WOB maintains homeostasis in health and disease.

Essential hypertension

First let's turn our attention to elevated blood pressure, known as essential hypertension. It rises extremely slowly, and many years go by until it reaches high levels which endanger the patient. Blood pressure rises in small steps.  After each step it  remains constant (invariant) for some time, and rises again. Between two consecutive steps, blood pressure maintains equilibrium (homeostasis). It never rises exponentially. Nor does any chronic disease even if overwhelming the patient. It always remains under WOB control. And so does cancer.

Chronic leukemia

WOB control is observed in chronic leukemia, which in plain English means 'White Blood'. The disease is manifested by a gradual increase of white blood cell count (WBCC) in the blood. When accompanied by a loss of red blood cells, blood becomes pale, or white, hence the name. A healthy person has about 10,000 WBC in a cubic millimeter of blood. As leukemia progresses, WBCC  rises in steps. From one equilibrium level to the subsequent one.

Usually, leukemia is detected accidentally.  A woman applies for a job, and her  medical checkup reveals a WBCC  of 80,000. She is then told that she has  chronic leukemia. Since at this stage treatment is not required, she is invited to return for further medical checkups. WBCC continues rising in steps, between which,  count remains invariant. Generally when it reaches 100,000, patient feels ill and is treated.

Acute leukemia

Chronic leukemia may turn unexpectedly  into a dangerous acute leukemia when patient dies within a short period of time. The higher WBCC the greater the risk of this fateful event. Hematologists attempted therefore to reduce  cell count with chemical drugs, hoping to prevent acute leukemia. Unfortunately, with repeated treatments, leukemia responds less and less, and the WBCC fails to decline.

Blood irradiation

During the sixties of the previous century, scientists in Brookhaven National Laboratory  developed an x-ray machine for blood irradiation. Patients were connected to the machine with two catheters. One drove arterial blood from  forearm into a tube that was irradiated by the machine. At the other end the tube was  connected to a second catheter through which  irradiated  blood was returned to the forearm.  In this manner blood was irradiated outside the body. Since leukemic cells are more sensitive to x-rays than other  WBC, their count dropped.


This dramatic achievement was followed by a disappointment. Within three days WBCC returned exactly to its pre-treatment level. Neither higher nor lower. And so was the result of repeated irradiations. Disappointed with their treatment failure, scientists abandoned the machine and the  experiment was forgotten. However  they ignored its  significance. In chronic leukemia WBCC is tightly controlled, since after irradiation WOB replenished the exact amount of WBC which were depleted by the procedure.

WOB controls chronic leukemia

Leukemic WBC count is determined by a set point which is controlled by WOB.. As disease advances WOB raises the set point and  WBC count rises. Irradiation depletes WBC and their count drops below the set point. WOB then corrects the damage and replenishes the missing cells. A similar behavior is observed also in essential hypertension. A special sensor called  baroceptor, continually monitors our blood pressure whose height is determined by a set-point controlled by WOB. When pressure rises above this set point. WOB lowers it and vice versa.  As essential hypertension advances, WOB raises the set point in small steps, always maintaining homeostasis.

Cancer proceeds stepwise, always maintaining homeostasis

Leukemia is a genuine cancer, and its behavior illustrates the fate of all cancers . All proceed in small steps tightly controlled by WOB. Between consecutive steps they maintain homeostasis. The notion that cancer rebels and evades WOB control is a folly. WOB controls also  colon cancer, which seeds the liver with microscopic metastases  early in its development.  When the tumor is detected and removed, hidden metastases in the liver grow and become visible. Like in leukemia,   the size of the colon tumor mass is determined by a set point. When  tumor is removed WOB replenishes the missing tumor mass by growing metastases in the liver.

Uveal melanoma

A similar phenomenon was described in intra-ocular  melanomas. Usually eyes with these tumors are enucleated. Yet  in 1978 Zimmerman et al, suggested that eye removal may promote  the spread of melanoma cells to other organs and increase mortality (1).  They  drew their conclusion  from epidemiological analysis of patient  mortality . Similar observations were made in one mouse tumor, the Lewis lung carcinoma. Eradication of a primary Lewis lung carcinoma by irradiation is followed by the rapid growth of metastases that kill the animal within 18 days after the completion of radiation therapy. Metastatic seeding was inhibited by angiostatin (2). Recently Apte  et al, demonstrated that  angiostatin produced by certain primary uveal melanoma  cell  lines  impedes  the development of  liver metastasis. They concluded :' In certain circumstances, enuclation of melanoma-cotaining eyes may unwittingly exacerbate the metastatic potential of uveal melanomas' (3)

Putting the tumor to sleep

Since cancer maintains an equilibrium with host (WOB), its progression can be influenced either by treating the tumor or by lowering the set-point, which is called here WOB boosting.  In advanced cancers which spread into remote organs, treating the tumor (metastases) generally fails. With repeated treatments, tumors respond less and less, and resist further treatments.  Here WOB boosting is the only effective way to slow down cancer progression.  Figuratively speaking, putting the tumor to sleep remains the only option for the patient. Here medicine has little to offer since it lacks means to boost WOB. On the other hand, alternative medicine specializes in WOB boosting, and ought to be recommended to the patient. It provides many ways to prolong remission. These are applied by Cancer-Yogis who  succeed to put their tumors to sleep, and  live peacefully with cancer.
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A press that illustrates concepts like set-point,  equilibrium, and WOB boosting.

The press consists of  two rods on which a blue plate is  mounted. The plate  shifts up and down. WOB exerts  pressure  on the tumor which is transmitted through a spring. The set-point indicates pressure intensity. The lower it is the greater the pressure and  vice versa. Normally the plate is still. WOB and tumor are in equilibrium (homeostasis). When WOB reduces its pressure the plate moves up, set-point rises, tumor grows, and the press regains a new equilibrium which is maintained for a while.

WOB boosting strengthens WOB pressure. Set-point drops and tumor shrinks.

References

1. Does enucleation of the eye containing a malignant melanoma prevent or accelerate the dissemination of tumour cells. 

Zimmerman LE, McLean IW, Foster WD. Br J Ophthalmol 1978 Jun;62(6):420-5     

A reappraisal of survival data on patients with uveal melanomas has led us to these impressions: (a) that the mortality rate before enucleation is low, estimated at 1% per year; (b) that the mortality rate rises abruptly following enucleation, reaching a peak of about 8% during the second year after enucleation; and (c) that approximately two-thirds of the fatalities could be attributed to the dissemination of tumour emboli at the time of enucleation. From these impressions we believe the following conclusions are warranted: (a) enucleation as it has been performed in the past may have for many patients an adverse rather than a beneficial effect with respect to the development of metastatic disease from malignant melanoma of the choroid and ciliary body. (b) A long-term follow-up study of untreated patients with melanomas of the choroid and ciliary body is indicated. (c) New techniques for enucleation designed to prevent the dissemination of tumour cells must be developed and tested to enable the ophthalmic surgeon to remove safely the tumour-containing eye that has developed such complications as uncontrollable glaucoma, panophthalmitis, or proptosis from extraocular extension.

2. Camphausen K et al. Radiation therapy to a primary tumor accelerates metastatic growth in mice. Cancer Res 2001 Mar 1;61(5):2207-11

3. Apte R.S et al.  Angiostatin produced by certain primary Uveal Melanoma cell lines impeded the development of liver metastases.  Arch Ophthalmol. 2001;119;1805-1809

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