Abstract
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.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | e53755 |
Journal | eLife |
Volume | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2019 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Neuroscience
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
- General Immunology and Microbiology