The Cancer Swamp

(Left) Excess nitrogen and phosphorus deposits stimulate the growth of photosynthetic algae, resulting in a characteristic algal bloom. As the algae die off, organic material accumulates and decomposition levels increase, leading to severe hypoxia. … — (Left) Excess nitrogen and phosphorus deposits stimulate the growth of photosynthetic algae, resulting in a characteristic algal bloom. As the algae die off, organic material accumulates and decomposition levels increase, leading to severe hypoxia. These harsh conditions select for efficient anaerobic decomposers. The build-up of the waste product of anaerobic fermentation, carbon dioxide, results in an acidic environment. Ultimately, the severe conditions lead to the local extinction of native species and eventual irreversible ecosystem collapse. (Right) Even in the absence of external stimuli, cancer cells have a high proliferation rate, rapidly expanding to a tumor mass analogous to an algal bloom. As the tumor grows, it quickly outstrips its vascular supply, resulting in a hypoxic microenvironment. To survive, the cancer cells alter their metabolism to utilize relatively inefficient anaerobic glycolysis, exhausting available nutrient sources. The accumulation of lactic acid, the waste product of anaerobic glycolysis, results in an acidic microenvironment. Ultimately, the harsh “cancer swamp” selects for highly lethal cancer superclones. Simultaneously, the toxic conditions lead to increased rates of necrosis, extinction of native host cell types, and eventual organ failure. Oncotarget. 2015 Apr 30; 6(12): 9669–9678.

WHat is the cancer swamp?

As they grow, tumors fundamentally alter their microenvironment, disrupting the homeostasis of the host organ and eventually the patient as a whole. These processes have striking parallels to the framework of ecological biology: multiple interacting ecosystems (organ systems) within a larger biosphere (body), alterations in species stoichiometry (host cell types), resource cycling (cellular metabolism and cell-cell signaling), and ecosystem collapse (organ failure and death).

In particular, as cancer cells generate their own niche within the tumor ecosystem, ecological engineering and autoeutrophication displace normal cell function and result in the creation of a hypoxic, acidic, and nutrient-poor environment. This “cancer swamp” has genetic and epigenetic effects at the local ecosystem level to promote metastasis.