Invasive cancer as an empirical example of evolutionary suicide

Abstract

In recent years, a large portion of the literature has focused on evolutionary suicide. Which is about the extinction of population via highly fit invasive mutation possessing a strategy favored by selection. ''Darwinian extinction'' or evolutionary suicide it is one of the most important findings in adaptive dynamics but unfortunately remains in need of more empirical examples. On the other hand, much literature has been published on somatic evolution and how carcinogenesis is an evolutionary process caused by mutation/selection, and how it competes on resources and space, and evades predation. Therefore, its microenvironment reflects most of ecological interactions in independent organisms. Today, there are many mathematical models describe this unique case of somatic evolution and show invasion fitness of tumor Clone cells as an unbeatable strategy leading to normal cell extinction and evolutionary stable strategy (ESS). When we combine the studies in these two lines of research, we almost inevitably arrive at the conclusion that evolutionary theory falls short of adequately explaining the phenomenon of life in its fullness and complexity. This is due to the fact that when we look at cancer as an empirical example for evolutionary suicide, we find that the latter is not a rare or special case and that it can occur in the most common ecological conditions. Therefore, it can be argued that in the absence of a mechanism for preventing evolutionary suicide, there will be no adequate explanation for life.