Characterizing causality in cancer

Elena Rondeau , Nicolas Larmonier , Thomas Pradeu (1) , Andreas Bikfalvi

1 ImmunoConcept - Immunology from Concept and Experiments to Translation

Philosophers have explored the concept of causality for centuries. Here we argue that ideas about causality from philosophy can help scientists to better understand how cancerous tumors grow and spread in the body. After outlining six characteristics of causality that are relevant to cancer, we emphasize the importance of feedback loops and interactions between tumor-cell-intrinsic and tumor-cell-extrinsic factors for explaining the formation and dissemination of tumors.

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Histoire, Philosophie et Sociologie des sciences; Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Cancer; Immunologie; Médecine humaine et pathologie

Elena Rondeau, Nicolas Larmonier, Thomas Pradeu, Andreas Bikfalvi. Characterizing causality in cancer. eLife, 2019, 8, ⟨10.7554/eLife.53755⟩. ⟨hal-02426577⟩