Cancer can be seen as a waterfall of gene and protein interactions.

What is cancer?

Cancer cells are most often regular human cells with the difference: a altnernation in and or a kind of malfunctioning, inside the particular cell's DNA.

Over 90% of cancers are observed to have some type of genetic alteration. Some of these alterations, like the so called breast cancer genes BRCA1/2, are inherited over many generations. While other forms of (DNA) alterations are more sporadic. Which means that such alterations  can occur by chance or may occur from exposures to dangerous carcinogenic influences, such as sun rays (UV light) or toxic substances like asbestos.

A single miscoding, can ultimately lead to a rapid transformation of ordinary cells into (malign) cancer cells. Whereby a waterfall metaphor can be applied: a single small creek, can rapidly evolve into a waterfall with multiple cascadic (down)streams, whereby the water starts to flow much faster and becomes harder to get grip on. Within the cancer cell, a cascadic waterfall of gene and protein interactions, may or will lead to a serious combination.

DNA miscoding within human cells is actually rather normal. And as a result of the miscoding, the malfunctioning cells are normally rapidly recognised by our immunesystem. Throughout our body, the immunesystem constantly checks for malfunctioning and or potentially dangerous cells. When such cells are recognised, the particular cells are getting 'killed' by so called T-cells and 'natural killer cells'.

However, our immunesystem,  the Natural Killer cells (NK) and T-cells in particular, can easily become impaired. Such can or will ultimately lead to the development of cancers and or tumor tissues. And when cancer cells can start to replicate and form tumors, things can easily get out of control, leading to serious if not life threathening consequences.

Ultimately, tumor cells may start to switch on more - so called - onco genes, which will make the tumor tissue more aggressive, it may become metastatic and tumor cells start to spread trough the entire body. Often, the particular form of cancer may become incurable, leading to a negative outcome for patients.

Within the CASCADEplus system, there's a strong focus on the principle of: with properly functioning NK - and T-cells, virtually all forms of cancer can get positively influenced.