DNA Researchers have found that sometimes a shattered chromosome turns the entire cell into cancer. Aside from the fact that this represents the part of biology class I doodled through, they aren't quite sure what this breakthrough means - other than the fact that you can have a clean mammogram one month and the next month have a very aggressive tumor.
Well, in wrapping my non-medical brain around this, I think:
- This reinforces the fact that every cancer is different. Just because you have stage IIA cancer, doesn't mean someone else with the same diagnosis is the same. Every cancer is different. They put it into slots based on body part and characteristics they can identify - spread, tumor size, hormone receptors, agressiveness, etc - but there are a lot of other variations.
- So they have a breakthrough that they don't quite know what it means but I think that it shows how much we have to learn. Is it a research breakthrough? Is this how cancer spreads and mets? And why someone can all of a sudden have a remote recurrence? Does this mean its an opportunity?
- Maybe cancer doesn't spread through cells but through chromosomes in the cells? Maybe we have been wrong for a long time. Face it for thousands of years, man thought the earth revolved around the sun.
Now you can see my extensive lack of scientific and medical knowledge. But if it is considered a breakthrough, I would think it would represent a new way to look at things. But I am just a patient so don't ask me.
1 comment:
Crikey! Thanks for this, Caroline. I'll follow up on this link.
My tumour went from being too small to feel (and apparently to see on a mammogram) to approx. 8 cm in a matter of weeks. Cheese and crackers - that was scary. I'd love to learn why.
Hope you're well.
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