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I was very surprised when reading Alberts Molecular Biology of the Cell that we basically don’t know how metastasis (cancer spreading through the body) works. This is my theory, plus some thoughts on what cancer even is.

To understand cancer, I think you have to ask: why do young people get less of it? Why is cancer something that occurs at all times in most species, but is effectively only lethal to aged animals?

There are two standard answers to this: either because cancer is caused by combining certain mutations, and that just gets more likely with time, or because our immune system gets weaker as we age. These certainly play a role, but I want to propose a more fundamental theory: for cancer to spread (metastasize, which ultimately kills you) it needs to find areas where new cancer can form. Animals that don’t die from cancer (young people, naked mole rats, plants, etc.) don’t control the arising of cancer, but they effectively make it impossible for cancer to spread. The way they do this is by minimizing the phase boundaries between separate cellular communication collectives, where the goal state of the local environment (the “phase identity”) is less clearly defined. As we age, these areas increase, as intercellular signaling degrades, and we get lethal forms of cancer.

Let's unpack this hypothesis. First, what IS cancer? In the simplest worldview, cancer is just "a change in the level at which evolutionary pressure dominates". (For more on this, see the interview with Athena Aktipis on why cancer is a fundamental phenomena in our universe or her book) When I'm healthy, evolution works on me, all my cells sacrifice each other (literally. There are immune cells which throw out their DNA as nets to trap invaders, the most badass seppuku imaginable), for the greater good (me). But sometimes, cells stop sharing that goal and become rogue, selfish, individuals. Cancer is rebellion.

Now this usually doesn't pose a problem, our internal military (immune system) squashes down rebellions all the time. But more importantly, our cells talk to each other constantly, indoctrinating, controlling, checking in with their neighbors, and justifying each and every action to the collective. If any cell notices they are stepping out of the line, they rather commit suicide (apoptosis) than harm the great overlords (the germline, me). This explains why, in my opinion, the most important oncogenes (a mutation that makes cancer more likely) are all related to gap junctions, see Bioelectric signaling: Reprogrammable circuits underlying embryogenesis, regeneration, and cancer: Cell. Gap junctions are connections between cells that allow them to exchange their cell plasma, their internals, and therefore all their inputs, beliefs, decisions, and outputs. They exchange their selves. Now if you and your partner both had perfect, constant, involuntary mind-reading, would it even make sense to talk about two different you's?

This mechanism - of sharing goals between large collections of cells through gap junctions - is what keeps you alive, and rebellions at bay. But sometimes, though unfortunate accidents, cells not only acquire mutations that make them dangerous (want to spread their ideas, acquire resources, don't want to die, etc. all the classical convergent instrumental goals of misaligned optimizers), they also lose their gap junctions, their safety mechanism. You have cancer.

On Cancer:

On Misalignment:

On Phase Boundaries:

In academic work, please cite this essay as:

Groß, Heye, “Metastasis can only happen at Phase Boundaries”, heye.earth (2023-11-15), available at https://heye.earth/telomeres/.