Jesper Got Published: TWIM #21

I wrote a letter about what cancer is to This Week In Microbiology, and it got published in episode #21. Here’s the letter:

Dear Vincent,

the other day I was in a discussion about what can get cancer, something that ultimately boiled down to what cancer really is. Our reasoning went along the lines of establishing that there are organisms containing any number of cells, ranging from one and up. If I remember correctly, C. Elegans has 957 cells. Presumably there is some organism with 956, 955 and so on.

It seems it doesn’t make any sense to talk about a one celled organism developing cancer – though I am interested to have that confirmed! The nematode just mentioned has cell specialization, so it could presumably develop some form of cancer. What is the lower limit of cells an organism must have to succumb to the decease or should the question really be posed in a completely different way?

Also, some organisms of very few cells occasionally gang up and form a super-organism. This includes some slime moulds and the pre-larvae state of jelly fish. Can such “temporary” organisms develop cancer?

The question is grander than just parasites, and I have a feeling that viruses, living or not, have no propensity to develop cancer. Hence my addressing the question to TWIM.

While I have your attention, allow me to once again thank you and everyone in each of the podcast teams for your effort in sharing your knowledge and doing it in such an enjoyable tone and fashion.

All the best,

Jesper
Software architect
Sweden

The question is answered by Vincent andElio near the end of the show.