Another side of Cancer

The Global Cancer Burden Keeps Growing

- BY GEEWANANDA GUNAWARDANA, Pu.D.

Reading the excellent article titled "Tackling insidious killer' (The Island 2025/06/04) by Priyantha Hewage, a few questions came to mind: Will there be a cure for cancer, or can cancer be eradicated, like polio or smallpox, for example? Why cancer is on the rise is another. While there are no definitive answers to them at this point, based on the known molecular biology of cancer, we can make some reasonable guesses.

There is a common (mis)conception that our genetic material, or DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the driver of life. DNA is purely a set of instructions, which can be likened to an instruction manual on how to build, maintain, and replicate an organism. Contrary to widespread belief, DNA itself cannot do anything. How can a cookbook be expected to bake a cake, for example? Someone must read the instructions, gather the ingredients, mix them appropriately, and bake it as directed. In living organisms, it is the proteins that do all that work, not DNA.

There is a strange relationship between DNA and proteins: proteins build DNA that contains the instructions to build proteins! It can be counterintuitive; the relationship between the chicken and the egg comes to mind. When we go down the path, it becomes clear that the proteins are responsible for cancer. But wait, do not throw out that meat dish out the window, not yet. Protein is a generic name. It includes enzymes, hormones, antibodies, receptors, transporters, and many other types of molecules, in addition to the muscle tissues or the egg white we refer to as protein. In this write up, protein refers to those other molecules and not to fried chicken.