Plato, Sun Tsu, and the Art of War (on cancer). Can we learn from history?

摘要

Cancer, in all its guises is on the rise along with the population growth. While not the leading cause of death in the world, it may soon garner that unfortunate honor. In the US, it is second only to heart disease. The 'war on cancer' declared in the US by Richard Milhouse Nixon is not being won. At present, treatment modalities are limited to resection, immunotoxins, radiation, chemotherapy, genomeceuticals, and variations on those themes. It is anticipated that with the emerging human genome data, most of these areas will be expanded, with the possible exception of radiation. However, all these approaches have two things in common. First, they have met with limited success. Second, they all work around the similar idea of containment and eradication in situ of the disease. This paper presents an alternative and novel way of looking at the research and treatment options for cancer taking two lessons from history. First, is Plato's dialectic where 'truth' is uncovered by examining a situation from twoopposite directions at once. Second, from Sun Tsu's treaty on the Art of War, where he recommends that when faced with a superior opponent, one method of dealing with the situation is to provoke them, anger them, cause them to move. The second tactic wears out the opponent and presents them in a more favorable situation for assault. It is suggested herein that perhaps cancer can be attacked by first assisting its growth, and causing metastasis to a location more favorable to attack with the common mechanisms cited above.