I've been thinking about cancer a lot lately. I was recently reminded of the alternative conceptualization of the relationship between the human body and cancer. The following link served as one more and the latest reminder.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/21/opinions/cancer-is-not-a-war-jardin-opinion/index.html

Most often the model described is one of an invasion, an assault, a battle, or a series of battles, a war. There is much about that model which doesn't quite fit with everyone's experienced reality of cancer or even the technology employed to reduce or eliminate its growth within and spread throughout the body. Most cancers are not the result of a external cause usually associated with an illness or disease, such as a bacteria, virus, or some other micro-organism. It appears to me that the language of "disease" and "illness" does not apply in this context.

So what does apply? Maybe condition is the best word, as in, the conditional nature of some of the body's cells.

Most cancers are a result of the body's cells going rogue--an aberration in cell division/replication. The cause or correlation may be no more than physical aging out, the impact of a teratogen, or a genetic anomaly. Once in place, that characteristic rogueness is passed on in the process of cell division. The various forms of cancer treatment--cytotoxins, immuno-therapies, and radiation therapy--focus on cells with certain characteristics of cell division/replication and/or the very process of cell division/replication in attempt to arrest, in whole or in part, the continuation of that process.

So what does this all mean? Cancer has much in common with other conditions which may prove to be life threatening or even terminal--not unlike diabetes. Such conditions are more properly managed than treated with "cure" as an intended and stated goal. Cancer is not my enemy. It is part of me, of someone I love, of a friend or acquaintance, or a fellow earthly traveler. It may not be all that different from eye or hair color, the presence or absence of hair when one is my age, height, or the abundance of or the lack of prowess for the game of basketball.

I am not here to fashion the most effective ad campaign for the American Cancer Society or draft the most viable rationale for a cancer research grant. I am here trying to make my own sense of the past seven years and the times that lie ahead.

Note: My apologies, in advance, to the microbiologists out there.