An Overview on Pathogenesis of Cancer: Cancer Reparative Trap

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, and the long-term prognosis is still
unfavorable, despite the enormous efforts in the search for effective anti-cancer drugs. We think that
the obstacle to creating the effective anti-cancer drugs is the existing idea that the basis of cancer is
the damage of the genetic apparatus of the cell. In this paper we present the pathogenesis of cancer
which is based on the formation of the special sustainable pathophysiological state of the organism –
the state of "cancer reparative trap". The essence of this pathophysiological state of the organism is in
the reparative orientation of the immune system of cancer patients, when constant tissue repair is
accompanied by systemic suppression of the anti-tumor immunity. Specifically, during the long-term
exposure to carcinogens (exogenous and/or endogenous) the continuous tissue damage occurs
which induces permanent stimulation of cell proliferation (imbalanced Th1<Th2 lymphocytes, M1<M2
macrophages, inflammation, angiogenesis, etc.) in order to repair the tissues damaged. At the same
time, tissue repair is necessarily accompanied by the suppression of anti-tumor immunity (increase in
T regulatory cell (Treg), imbalanced Th1<Th2 lymphocytes, M1<M2 macrophages et al.), which
creates the necessary conditions for the survival of the malignantly transformed cells, formed by the
action of carcinogens. The determining role of the imbalance in the autonomous nervous system
(simpathetic/hypersympathetic dominance) in the development, maintenance and generalization of
the cancer process has been shown. The explanation of a number of phenomena has been
presented: the cell resistance to chemotherapy and the phenomenon of cancer cell dormancy. The
promising approaches for the cancer management in clinical practice has been proposed.