Towards a morphogenetic perspective on cancer

The purpose of this paper is to present a critique of the current view that reduces cancer to a cellular problem caused by specific gene mutations and to propose, instead, that such a problem might become more intelligible, if it is understood as a phenomenon which results from the breakdown of the morphological plan or Gestalt of the organism. Such an organism, in Aristotelian terms, is characterised for presenting a specific morpho or logos (form) and for having a telos (end) to fulfill. A malignant tumour represents an entity separated from both, the organic logos and the organic telos. According to the basic postulates of Semiophysics--a blend of Aristotelian physics and Catastrophe Theory developed by René Thom--an organism is a source (original) form individuated by a dominant pregnancy which corresponds to its morphogenetic field. Here it is suggested that cancer in aged individuals may result from the progressive exhaustion of the developmental constraints that regulate the process of ontogeny, that is expected to go from the fertilised non-differentiated zygote to the mature fully-developed organism, because there is no further point ahead in the developmental pathway past the reproductive age. Cancer in young individuals (before their reproductive maturity) may then be consequence of premature derangement of such fundamental developmental constraints. In all cases the result is the loss of morphological coherence within the organism. Thus representing a conflict between an organised morphology (the organism) and a part of such a morphology that drifts towards an amorphous state (the tumour).