A model of self-maintenance of in vivo malignant growth not dependent on tumour type or origin: syndrome of everlasting wound healing.
The common mechanism of permanent growth maintenance in all types of malignant tumours is proposed. According to the model, the main event, stimulating tumour growth is the stochastic but permanent death of a proportion of tumour cells as a result of inherent genetic instability of tumour cell genome (chromosome fragility). Dead cells trigger the complex and multicomponent process of wound healing, manifesting in stimulation of cell proliferation, angiogenesis, cell migration and other events. Stimulation of proliferation of tumour cells leads to further production of dead (necrotic) cells and as a result to further stimulation of wound healing system etc. The nature of genetic instability of malignant cells, as proposed, is connected with arising of heritable uninemic (uniduplex) structures in pieces of some chromosomes or in whole chromosomes or sometimes even in whole genomes. Uninemic areas possess extremely high incidence of spontaneous chromosome aberrations due to failure of the mechanism of repair of DNA double-strand breaks in the absence of second DNA copy. The theory is based on the binemic structure of normal eukaryote chromosomes. Possible approaches to the mechanisms of cancer therapy are discussed.
D000818:Animals; D016923:Cell Death / Q000235:genetics*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics*; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D013577:Syndrome; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000235:genetics*