Philosophy Of Cancer

Author : Marta Bertolaso
Publisher : Springer
Page : 190 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2016-08-24
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9789402408652

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Philosophy of Cancer by Marta Bertolaso Pdf

Since the 1970s, the origin of cancer is being explored from the point of view of the Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT), focusing on genetic mutations and clonal expansion of somatic cells. As cancer research expanded in several directions, the dominant focus on cells remained steady, but the classes of genes and the kinds of extra-genetic factors that were shown to have causal relevance in the onset of cancer multiplied. The wild heterogeneity of cancer-related mutations and phenotypes, along with the increasing complication of models, led to an oscillation between the hectic search of ‘the’ few key factors that cause cancer and the discouragement in face of a seeming ‘endless complexity’. To tame this complexity, cancer research started to avail itself of the tools that were being developed by Systems Biology. At the same time, anti-reductionist voices began claiming that cancer research was stuck in a sterile research paradigm. This alternative discourse even gave birth to an alternative theory: the Tissue Organization Field Theory (TOFT). A deeper philosophical analysis shows limits and possibilities of reductionist and anti-reductionist positions and of their polarization. This book demonstrates that a radical philosophical reflection is necessary to drive cancer research out of its impasses. At the very least, this will be a reflection on the assumptions of different kinds of cancer research, on the implications of what cancer research has been discovering over 40 years and more, on a view of scientific practice that is most able to make sense of the cognitive and social conflicts that are seen in the scientific community (and in its results), and, finally, on the nature of living entities with which we entertain this fascinating epistemological dance that we call scientific research. The proposed Dynamic and Relational View of carcinogenesis is a starting point in all these directions.

Author : Anya Plutynski
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2018-07-18
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780199967469

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Explaining Cancer by Anya Plutynski Pdf

In Explaining Cancer, Anya Plutynski addresses a variety of philosophical questions that arise in the context of cancer science and medicine. She begins with the following concerns: · How do scientists classify cancer? Do these classifications reflect nature's "joints"? · How do cancer scientists identify and classify early stage cancers? · What does it mean to say that cancer is a "genetic" disease? What role do genes play in "mechanisms for" cancer? · What are the most important environmental causes of cancer, and how do epidemiologists investigate these causes? · How exactly has our evolutionary history made us vulnerable to cancer? Explaining Cancer uses these questions as an entrée into a family of philosophical debates. It uses case studies of scientific practice to reframe philosophical debates about natural classification in science and medicine, the problem of drawing the line between disease and health, mechanistic reasoning in science, pragmatics and evidence, the roles of models and modeling in science, and the nature of scientific explanation.

Author : Mary Ann G. Cutter
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 249 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2018
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9780190637033

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Thinking Through Breast Cancer by Mary Ann G. Cutter Pdf

Anyone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer or knows someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer recognizes that cancer raises a host of questions concerning its nature and how we treat it. Such questions frame the difficult decisions that patients must make about their treatment and care. Thinking Through Breast Cancer is a philosophical investigation of how breast cancer is described, explained, evaluated, and socialized in medicine. Written by a breast cancer survivor, the book interweaves personal experience with a systematic breakdown of key and highly pertinent philosophical concepts, and brings to light insights that emerge in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, social and political philosophy, and bioethics. Further, it is an investigation of the ethical implications of understanding breast cancer. Cutter seamlessly combines clinical information with philosophical analysis and makes recommendations as to how we can navigate the complex and, at times, uncertain terrain of breast cancer knowledge and care. In this way, the book is not simply a survey of what we know about breast cancer, but a personal search for guidance about navigating the complex, confusing, and frightening terrain of breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survival.

Author : Georges Ohsawa
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 182 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 1971
Category : Cancer
ISBN : UOM:39076006468990

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Cancer and the Philosophy of the Far East by Georges Ohsawa Pdf

Author : Lucie Laplane
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2016-06-06
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9780674088740

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Cancer Stem Cells by Lucie Laplane Pdf

A new therapeutic strategy could break the stalemate in the war on cancer by targeting not all cancerous cells but the small fraction that lie at the root of cancers. Lucie Laplane offers a comprehensive analysis of cancer stem cell theory, based on an original interdisciplinary approach that combines biology, biomedical history, and philosophy.

Author : Manfred Schwab
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 3307 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2008-09-23
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9783540368472

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Encyclopedia of Cancer by Manfred Schwab Pdf

This comprehensive encyclopedic reference provides rapid access to focused information on topics of cancer research for clinicians, research scientists and advanced students. Given the overwhelming success of the first edition, which appeared in 2001, and fast development in the different fields of cancer research, it has been decided to publish a second fully revised and expanded edition. With an A-Z format of over 7,000 entries, more than 1,000 contributing authors provide a complete reference to cancer. The merging of different basic and clinical scientific disciplines towards the common goal of fighting cancer makes such a comprehensive reference source all the more timely.

Author : Bernhard Strauss,Marta Bertolaso,Ingemar Ernberg,Mina J. Bissell
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 433 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2021-04-27
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780262045216

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Rethinking Cancer by Bernhard Strauss,Marta Bertolaso,Ingemar Ernberg,Mina J. Bissell Pdf

Leading scientists argue for a new paradigm for cancer research, proposing a complex systems view of cancer supported by empirical evidence. Current consensus in cancer research explains cancer as a disease caused by specific mutations in certain genes. After dramatic advances in genome sequencing, never before have we known so much about the individual cancer cell--and yet never before has it been so unclear what to do with this knowledge. In this volume, leading researchers argue for a new theory framework for understanding and treating cancer. The contributors propose a complex systems view of cancer, presenting conceptual building blocks for a new research paradigm supported by empirical evidence. The contributors first discuss the new research framework in terms of theoretical foundations and then take up the relevance of a systems approach, reviewing such topics as nonlinearity, recurrence after treatment, the cellular attractor concept, network theory, and non-coding DNA--the "dark matter" of our genome. They address the temporality of cancer progression, drawing on evolutionary theory and clinical experience. Finally, they cover the dominant role of the tissue microenvironment in cancer, analyzing topics including altered metabolic pathways, the disease-defining influence on metastasis, and the interconnectedness of different environmental niches across levels of organization.

Author : Vinayak K. Prasad
Publisher : Johns Hopkins University Press
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2020-04-21
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9781421437637

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Malignant by Vinayak K. Prasad Pdf

This well-written, opinionated, and engaging book explains what we can do differently to make serious and sustained progress against cancer—and how we can avoid repeating the policy and practice mistakes of the past.

Author : Lucie Laplane
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 237 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2016-06-06
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780674969568

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Cancer Stem Cells by Lucie Laplane Pdf

A new therapeutic strategy could break the stalemate in the war on cancer by targeting not all cancerous cells but the small fraction that lie at the root of cancers. Lucie Laplane offers a comprehensive analysis of cancer stem cell theory, based on an original interdisciplinary approach that combines biology, biomedical history, and philosophy.

Author : David A. Chambers,Cynthia A. Vinson,Wynne E. Norton
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 441 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2018
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9780190647421

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Advancing the Science of Implementation Across the Cancer Continuum by David A. Chambers,Cynthia A. Vinson,Wynne E. Norton Pdf

While many effective interventions have been developed with the potential to significantly reduce morbidity and mortality from cancer, they are of no benefit to the health of populations if they cannot be delivered. In response to this challenge, Advancing the Science of Implementation across the Cancer Continuum provides an overview of research that can improve the delivery of evidence-based interventions in cancer prevention, early detection, treatment, and survivorship. Chapters explore the field of implementation science and its application to practice, a broad synthesis of relevant research and case studies illustrating each cancer-focused topic area, and emerging issues at the intersection of research and practice in cancer. Both comprehensive and accessible, this book is an ideal resource for researchers, clinical and public health practitioners, medical and public health students, and health policymakers.

Author : Elizabeth Cohn Stuntz,Marsha M. Linehan
Publisher : Guilford Publications
Page : 186 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2021-02-05
Category : Health & Fitness
ISBN : 9781462542024

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Coping with Cancer by Elizabeth Cohn Stuntz,Marsha M. Linehan Pdf

This compassionate book presents dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a proven psychological intervention that Marsha M. Linehan developed specifically for the impossible situations of life--and which she and Elizabeth Cohn Stuntz now apply to the unique challenges of cancer for the first time. *How can you face the fear, sadness, and anger without being paralyzed by them? *Is it possible to hold on to hope without being in denial? *How can you nurture supportive relationships when you have barely enough energy to take care of yourself? Learn powerful DBT skills that can help you make difficult treatment decisions, manage overwhelming emotions, speak up for your needs, and tolerate distress. The stories and collective wisdom of other cancer patients and survivors illustrate the coping skills and show how you can live meaningfully, even during the darkest days.

Author : Paul Kalanithi
Publisher : Random House
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2016-01-12
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780812988413

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When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi Pdf

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living? NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • People • NPR • The Washington Post • Slate • Harper’s Bazaar • Time Out New York • Publishers Weekly • BookPage Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational Memoir At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir. Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.

Author : Thomas Cowan
Publisher : Chelsea Green Publishing
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2019-09-24
Category : Health & Fitness
ISBN : 9781603588812

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Cancer and the New Biology of Water by Thomas Cowan Pdf

"When President Nixon launched the War on Cancer with the signing of the National Cancer Act of 1971 and the allocation of billions of research dollars, it was amidst a flurry of promises that a cure was within reach. The research establishment was trumpeting the discovery of oncogenes, the genes that supposedly cause cancer. As soon as we identified them and treated cancer patients accordingly, cancer would become a thing of the past. Fifty years later it's clear that the War on Cancer has failed--despite what the cancer industry wants us to believe. New diagnoses have continued to climb; one in three people in the United States can now expect to battle cancer during their lifetime. For the majority of common cancers, the search for oncogenes has not changed the treatment: We're still treating with the same old triad of removing (surgery), burning out (radiation), or poisoning (chemotherapy). In Cancer and the New Biology of Water, Thomas Cowan, MD, argues that this failure was inevitable because the oncogene theory is incorrect--or at least incomplete--and based on a flawed concept of biology in which DNA controls our cellular function and therefore our health. Instead, Dr. Cowan tells us, the somatic mutations seen in cancer cells are the result of a cellular deterioration that has little to do with oncogenes, DNA, or even the nucleus. The root cause is metabolic dysfunction that deteriorates the structured water that forms the basis of cytoplasmic health. Despite mainstream medicine's failure to bring an end to suffering or deliver on its promises, it remains illegal for physicians to prescribe anything other than the "standard of care" for their cancer patients, despite the fact that gentler, more effective, and more promising treatments exist"--

Author : Raymond Francis
Publisher : Health Communications, Inc.
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2011-08-01
Category : Health & Fitness
ISBN : 9780757315503

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Never Fear Cancer Again by Raymond Francis Pdf

Most cancer research dollars have been wasted by asking the wrong questions, looking in the wrong places, and recycling the same failed approaches while expecting different results. Conventional cancer treatments damage health, cause new cancers, lower the quality of life, and decrease the chances of survival. In fact, most people who die from cancer are not dying from cancer, but from their treatments! That's the bad news. Here's the good news: We can end the cancer epidemic. In Never Fear Cancer Again, readers will gain a revolutionary new understanding of health and disease and will come to understand that cancer is a biological process that can be turned on and off, not something that can be surgically removed or destroyed with radiation or toxic chemicals. So whether cancer has already been diagnosed or if prevention is the concern, it is possible to turn off the wayward production of these malfunctioning cells once and for all by reading this book and implementing its strategies. The key to any disease has one simple cause: malfunctioning cells that are created by either deficiency or toxicity. By switching off the malfunctioning cells, you switch off the cancer. Never Fear Cancer Again guides readers along six pathways that cause deficiency or toxicity at the cellular level: nutritional path, genetic path, medical path, toxin path, physical path, and the psychological path. By making key lifestyle changes, people truly have the power to take control of cancer and transform their health. This radically different, yet holistic approach restored author Raymond Francis back to health just as it has helped thousands of others, many of whom were told they had no other options or that their cancer was incurable. Take back your health with this book and never fear cancer again.

Author : John McMurtry
Publisher : Pluto Press
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0745313477

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The Cancer Stage of Capitalism by John McMurtry Pdf

In this bold new look at the recent uncontrolled spread of global capitalism, John McMurtry, professor of philosophy at the University of Guelph, develops the metaphor of modern capitalism as a cancer. Its invasive growth, he argues, threatens to break down our society's immune system and--if not soon restrained--could reverse all the progress that has been made toward social equity and stability. On every continent, in every state, there are indicators of profound economic and environmental collapse. From the lands of indigenous communities to the currency markets of Asia, from the ocean floors to the ozone layer, the collapse is all-encompassing and deep-reaching. John McMurtry traces the causes of this global disorder back to the mutating assumptions of market theory that now govern the world’s economy. He diagnoses the malaise as a pathologist would a biological cancer, tracking the delinked circuits of the global system’s monetised growth as a carcinogenic disorder at the social level of life-organization. In the wide-lensed tradition of Adam Smith, Marx and Keynes, McMurtry cuts across academic disciplines and boundaries to penetrate the inner logic of the system’s problems. Far from pessimistic, he argues that the way out of the global crisis is to be found in an evolving substructure of history which provides a common ground of resolution across ethnic and national divisions. Reaching beyond conventional textbooks, this fascinating study offers a new paradigm which is accessible to intelligent citizens the world over.