: Med Hypotheses. 1978 May-Jun;4(3):193-207. |
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Cancer as a systemic disease.
Zajicek G.
Theories on the nature of cancer may be classified into two categories. One
regards cancer strictly as a local phenomenon while the second looks at cancer
as a local manifestation of a systemic process or disease. Although the first
dominates current medical thought, the theories of immunological surveillance
and of protovirus-oncogene implicitly assume cancer to represent a local
manifestation of a systemic process or disease. This is supported also by
epidemiological data forwarded in the present paper. In order to clarify the
exact meaning of a systemic disease, cancer and its manifestation are compared
with arteriosclerosis and its sequelae. Arteriosclerosis could be regarded as a
prototype of a systemic disease. It presents itself clinically solely by its
local manifestations, like myocardial infarction or stroke. These local
manifestations may be followed by secondary systemic sequelae like congestive
heart failure. In the same context, it is proposed to regard cancer as one
systemic disease which presents itself clinically by local phenomena like
carcinoma, lymphoma and sarcoma. These local manifestations may lead further to
secondary systemic sequelae like metastasis.
PMID: 672709 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]