Abstract

Cancer biology is one of the most important research areas in which there is no unifying theory that could successfully explain all the data relevant to the course of the disease and its treatment. Although most scientists still accept the hypothesis that cancer is caused by mutations in some of the key genes, requests to change the theoretical framework and to introduce new ideas into cancer research are increasingly being heard. In recent years, there has been a debate about whether the idea of Darwinian populations and selection explanations based on it can play a significant role in understanding neoplastic formations. In this lecture, I will try to show what are the most important elements of the discussion about the Darwinian model of carcinogenesis and whether cancer can be seen as a result of the action of evolutionary mechanisms, primarily natural selection.