if cancer is basically a clump of cells that dont want to die, why/how do things like cigarettes, asbestos, and the literal sun trigger it?
In: Biology
A more recent proposed mental model for understanding cancer comes from observing that cancer cells behave like much more primitive cells, and act in their own interest rather than in the interest of the organism. The idea is that harmful substances injure the cell to the point where instead of booting the cell’s assigned OS and operating accordingly, so to speak, it goes into kernel panic mode, and operates like a bacterium, having forgotten that it is supposed to operate as part of a larger organism. Those ultra primitive functions include proliferation and cell division, but lack the regulatory functions that make it participate in the over-all functioning of the organism. Part of that proper behavior is that certain cells trigger cell suicide when their continued activity harms the organism. There is evidence that supports this interpretation, but as with anything as complicated, it is controversial.
See this: [A New Theory on Cancer: What We Know About How It Starts Could All Be Wrong](https://www.newsweek.com/2017/07/28/cancer-evolution-cells-637632.html)
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