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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Patient Derived Cell Culture and Isolation of CD133+ Putative Cancer Stem Cells from Melanoma
Published on: March 13, 2013
Darwinian medicine: a case for cancer
1Section of Haemato-Oncology, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK. mel.greaves@icr.ac.uk
Abstract:
Epidemiological, genetic and molecular biological studies have collectively provided us with a rich source of data that underpins our current understanding of the aetiology and molecular pathogenesis of cancer. But this perspective focuses on proximate mechanisms, and does not provide an adequate explanation for the prevalence of tumours and cancer in animal species or what seems to be the striking vulnerability of Homo sapiens. The central precept of Darwinian medicine is that vulnerability to cancer, and other major diseases, arises at least in part as a consequence of the 'design' limitations, compromises and trade-offs that characterize evolutionary processes.
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