[dlaxague]

Hi Lani and all,

I read this article elsewhere and because it helps refute a tenacious and often heard (non) "truth" about cancer, I was going to post it here and invite discussion.

The general understanding of most lay (non-cancer) people that I talk to is that a weak immune system is at fault, when cancer is "allowed" to develop and/or grow. Or conversely, that we can resist or fight cancer by strengthening our immune functions.

From this premise comes the even more often heard "truth" - that stress causes cancer by weakening the immune system ( that last part is true - some stress can affect some immune functions). But what is not true is that the stress causing the weakening has an effect on the stealthy cancer.

They've know for some time that cancer is often not recognized as a threat by the immune system, thus (again), it's not that a weak response is mounted by a weak immune system - it's that NO response is mounted by an oblivious (or hoodwinked) one. That's why vaccines offer promise - they might be able to help the immune system recognize a cancer and mount an offense against it.

Another aspect of this is another often-heard story - that everyone has cancer cells develop in their body (even daily perhaps) and that they are taken care of by the immune system. Probably true. But those cells that are mopped up daily are those with the poor clandestine skills - they are unable to evade detection. The clever, stealthy ones are the successful cancers. And they are successful because of some excellent (depending of course upon perspective) skills of the cancer cell, not because of some lack in the immune system.

Debbie Laxague