[Importance of cell self-organization for tumor biology]

A cell is a complex system working far from thermodynamic equilibrium. The prediction of cellular functions based exclusively on the molecular basis is yet impossible because of the many degrees of freedom of the microsystem cell. In contrast, the system cell displays only a surprisingly small spectrum of macroscopic observable degrees of freedom, the number of which changes during the cell cycle and neoplastic growth. Illustrated by image analytical and cell biological data we attempt to describe these phenomena of cellular self-organization.