Just recently I learned about cancers ability to evolve and adapt to its environment. It does this by having multiple branches of highly unique sections of the tumor. Like a tree, there is a central “trunk” of cancer cells from which highly evolved cancer cells can stem from. If you were to cut a whole tumor in half, you would be able to see the distinct sections; some off colored, some highly vascularized, and others larger or smaller than the rest. These variable sections of tumors are sometimes only a few centimeters apart or on opposite sides of the tumor. This variability is why cancer is so hard to treat. A biopsy only removes a specific part of the tumor, but as we now know, there are multiple parts and different constructs of the same cancer elsewhere in the tumor. The biopsy will allude how to treat that one specific section even though a different section will not be affected by the treatment at all. Cancer is a fickle beast and one that still leaves many wondering how we are ever supposed to cure it when it appears the more we fight cancer, the more it fights back. Hopefully one day we will figure it out and hopefully its someday soon.
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