Re: Cancer and evolution

From: Anthony Campbell (me_at_privacy.net)
Date: 11/05/04 

Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2004 16:28:27 +0000 (UTC)

On 2004-11-04, phillip smith <deletethis-phills@ihug.co.nz> wrote:
> Back in the mid 80's I think 86 87. I remember some one putting forward the
> idea that cancer played a role in evolution. From memory the idea was that
> tumours could over time evolve into organs. I gues if you have a genetic
> predisposition to a cancer in a particular tissue then modifiers could e
> selected for that ameliorated some of the negative effects and may be
> conferred new properties of to the tumor turning it into an organ. I am
> trying to find out who put forward the idea. From memory he was a fellow New
> Zealander and I think he was a lawyer by trade. If this rings any bells
> please let me know.
>
> [moderator's note: Phillip may be referring to James Graham's 1992
> book, "Cancer Selection", which he self-published (and was kind enough
> to send me a copy). Jim was a regular participant in this newsgroup
> for a time after that, but I haven't seen him around in a while. As
> I recall, he lives in Virginia, not NZ....Googling "Cancer Selection"
> and "evolution" brings up a number of related sites; this may be the
> most useful: http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=16
> If that's not what you're talking about, I dunno what you're talking
> about. :-) -JAH]
>
>

Probably not what the OP was thinking of, but possibly relevant:

Bruce Charlton, a lecturer in epidemiology and public health at the
University of Newcastle upon Tyne, has proposed the term "endogenous
parasitism" to describe the processes of cancer development and aging.
His idea is that natural selection will act to favour the replication of
"selfish" genes at the expense of those which are supposed to regulate
cells.

Reference:
Charlton BG. 'Senescence, cancer, and "endogenous parasites": a
salutogenic hypothesis'. Journal of the Royal College of Physicians,
1996;30:10-12

AC 

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