Taking a broader view of things: towards a transdisciplinary approach to cancer
Cancer is widely considered an abnormality that emerges from within the body and which must be destroyed and defeated. But we still do not know precisely how and why cancer starts, and while a ‘magic bullet’ cure has failed to materialise, those adopting a more pragmatic stance are increasingly argu...
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| Format: | Article |
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Sapienza, Universita di Roma
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53090/ |
| _version_ | 1848798874771128320 |
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| author | Rauch, Cyril Blott, Sarah Stewart, Simon |
| author_facet | Rauch, Cyril Blott, Sarah Stewart, Simon |
| author_sort | Rauch, Cyril |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Cancer is widely considered an abnormality that emerges from within the body and which must be destroyed and defeated. But we still do not know precisely how and why cancer starts, and while a ‘magic bullet’ cure has failed to materialise, those adopting a more pragmatic stance are increasingly arguing that if we cannot eradicate all cancer cells, we should look instead towards a ‘stalemate’ and find ways of managing cancer as a chronic disease. This article seeks to extend the reach of research in this field by taking a broader view and working towards a transdisciplinary approach in order to better understand cancer. First, we draw attention to obstacles that hinder progress in formulating new perspectives on cancer. Second, we ask why the genocentric approach to cancer remains dominant. One explanation is the legacy of Cartesian thinking. Third, we consider new ways of conceptualizing cancer so that it is not only a scientific object but also an object of life that has a framed existence within the body as part of a wider process of biological evolution. We draw on two key examples which highlight the importance of adopting a transdisciplinary approach: multi-drug resistance and cancer genomics. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:26:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-53090 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:26:43Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Sapienza, Universita di Roma |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-530902020-05-04T19:25:07Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53090/ Taking a broader view of things: towards a transdisciplinary approach to cancer Rauch, Cyril Blott, Sarah Stewart, Simon Cancer is widely considered an abnormality that emerges from within the body and which must be destroyed and defeated. But we still do not know precisely how and why cancer starts, and while a ‘magic bullet’ cure has failed to materialise, those adopting a more pragmatic stance are increasingly arguing that if we cannot eradicate all cancer cells, we should look instead towards a ‘stalemate’ and find ways of managing cancer as a chronic disease. This article seeks to extend the reach of research in this field by taking a broader view and working towards a transdisciplinary approach in order to better understand cancer. First, we draw attention to obstacles that hinder progress in formulating new perspectives on cancer. Second, we ask why the genocentric approach to cancer remains dominant. One explanation is the legacy of Cartesian thinking. Third, we consider new ways of conceptualizing cancer so that it is not only a scientific object but also an object of life that has a framed existence within the body as part of a wider process of biological evolution. We draw on two key examples which highlight the importance of adopting a transdisciplinary approach: multi-drug resistance and cancer genomics. Sapienza, Universita di Roma 2017-12-31 Article PeerReviewed Rauch, Cyril, Blott, Sarah and Stewart, Simon (2017) Taking a broader view of things: towards a transdisciplinary approach to cancer. Organisms. Journal of Biological Sciences, 1 (2). pp. 49-59. ISSN 2532-5876 cancer transdisciplinary approach sociology philosophy science multi-drug resistance cancer genomics https://ojs.uniroma1.it/index.php/Organisms/article/view/13976 doi:10.13133/2532-5876_2.10 doi:10.13133/2532-5876_2.10 |
| spellingShingle | cancer transdisciplinary approach sociology philosophy science multi-drug resistance cancer genomics Rauch, Cyril Blott, Sarah Stewart, Simon Taking a broader view of things: towards a transdisciplinary approach to cancer |
| title | Taking a broader view of things: towards a transdisciplinary approach to cancer |
| title_full | Taking a broader view of things: towards a transdisciplinary approach to cancer |
| title_fullStr | Taking a broader view of things: towards a transdisciplinary approach to cancer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Taking a broader view of things: towards a transdisciplinary approach to cancer |
| title_short | Taking a broader view of things: towards a transdisciplinary approach to cancer |
| title_sort | taking a broader view of things: towards a transdisciplinary approach to cancer |
| topic | cancer transdisciplinary approach sociology philosophy science multi-drug resistance cancer genomics |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53090/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53090/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/53090/ |