Table 2.

Tissue organization field theory.

Cancer is a disease of tissue organization comparable to organogenesis: carcinogenic agents destroy normal tissue architecture, interfering with normal cell–cell communication. The default state of the cell is proliferative with variation and motility. Carcinogenesis is reversible. A holistic or antireductionist philosophy: phenomena occurring at one level cannot be explained by understanding the properties at a lower level. There is unidirectional downward causation: genetic mutations and altered biochemistry are a result of disrupted tissue organization.