Recognizing Paradigm Instability in Theories of Carcinogenesis
Stuart G. Baker *
Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The dominant view that cancer arises from successive mutations in somatic cells is so unquestioned that accumulating challenges from experimental and observational results are rarely addressed in the scientific literature. Based on these challenges, we argue that the scientific understanding of carcinogenesis has entered a period of paradigm instability. New research directions are therefore needed.
Keywords: Cancer, funding, paradigm instability, paradox, research, somatic mutation theory, tissue organization field theory.