Single cell cancers in fish reveal secrets of tumor development

Tuesday, March 01, 2016 by: Harold Shaw
Tags: cancer prevention, environment, fish tumors

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(NaturalNews) Medical research is driving an increasing amount of resources toward the study of cancer. Whether it's developing less harmful drugs or understanding the causes behind various types of cancer, humanity today is more aware of this disease than it is about the wars that are currently going on around the world. From carcinogenic substances in our food and drinks, to the toxins that pollute our air and water, there are hundreds of potential cancer triggers in the life of a normal individual. And let's not forget about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). If it's not organic, you're not really eating food.

Despite the awe-inspiring number of cancer cases every year, doctors still don't grasp how the illness develops at a cellular level. Experts in the field of oncology are fully aware of the ocean of cancer threats that we course through every day, but they are completely oblivious as to how they work within the body to cause the disease. We know they're bad. Instead of getting rid of them, let's find out the mechanics behind them – and a decade-long investigation on fish just got us one step closer to that knowledge.

Vast resources for little information

Currently, the prevailing theory of cancer development among medical practitioners states that there are genes responsible for the disease. When these genes start to randomly mutate and behave in a manner that is abnormal to their usual function, a cancer is formed. While there may be associated reasons with some mutations, doctors can't seem to admit to any cause apart from a remote statistical probability or, as some say, bad luck.

Somehow, the overwhelming amount of toxins, substances put in our food, or GMOs are casually omitted. We're exposed to them from the early stages of our development in our mother's wombs, to the second of our very last breath. Mentioning this would, however, defeat the purpose of the research itself. Without a purpose, there's no funding. Given this, the main drive behind the Zebra fish experiment is that a lot of cells displaying the cancer genes do not end up as cancerous. This fact doesn't really add up with the gene theory, which means that there has to be another factor, a context or variable that acts as a trigger for those inherent genes. Maybe if we drink some lead-poisoned water?

Over 10 years ago, Dr. Zon and his associates started from this missing link. For them, what fully disproved genes as the sole explanation for cancer was that when the fish were injected with cells that had the cancer genes we know, they were supposed to suffer an outbreak of the disease. Instead, out of the millions of cells, only one to three mutated in each fish. It just doesn't get any more obvious.

What they found out

Boston Children's Hospital's Dr. Leonard Zon, and Dr. Charles K. Kaufman, along with their colleagues, published a study at the end of January that may very well lead to our full understanding of cancer. Their research focuses on a form of skin cancer, melanoma, which currently holds one of the highest death rates among people who develop the disease.

Their endeavor is an interesting one in itself. In order to better understand melanoma, the doctors experimented on Zebra fish. Without having to cut the fish open, the team devised a method of seeing the cancer cells, as well as the organs of the fish by using a fluorescent dye that glows bright green. It was designed to trigger only when a mutation of a human gene given to the fish occurred.

The results were astounding. One cell turned bright green even before it was a cancer. Upon closer investigation, the practitioners found out that it reverted to an embryonic form – a sort of primordial stage, wherein a cell can literally become part of anything in our bodies. From this state, it started to divide and the cancer set in, gaining more and more momentum towards a mass that had all the characteristics of a tumor.

This study conclusively proves that there are many other factors at work in the development of cancer. It's becoming more and more obvious that the easy "your cancer must be genetic" theory just won't wash. It's time for establishment scientists to wake up and consider all the carcinogenic substances and environmental factors we're exposed to, and realize that there are many things that we as people can do to reduce our risk of cancer.

Sources include:

NYTimes.com

Cancer.net

Science.ScienceMag.org

Science.NaturalNews.com