What if cancer isn’t genetic? What if it's not a rogue cell mutated DNA dividing uncontrollably, destined to destroy us from within.
What if, instead, cancer is a cry for help from our bodies, a signal that something deeper is wrong?
A perspective-shattering research paper published in PLOS Biology on March 18, 2025, titled "The end of the genetic paradigm of cancer," dares to flip the script.
I believe this scientific paper contributes to a growing holistic understanding of human health. One that will rewrite how we prevent, treat, and even think about diseases like cancer.
And at its heart? Cutting edge research showing that metabolic dysfunction is the hidden driver of most chronic ills, cancer included.
This might be controversial for some as it goes against mainstream ideas, but when considered deeply, it makes sense.
And once it makes sense, you'll see how it empowers you to become your own healer.
The cancer paradigm shift
For decades, the dominant understanding of cancer has revolved around genetics.
The accepted narrative has been that cancer occurs when cells accumulate mutations, transforming them into rogue agents that divide uncontrollably.
This belief has driven vast genome sequencing projects, precision medicine strategies, and countless targeted treatments.
Still, cancer is prevalent in the modern world. As tv adverts often remind me, around 1 in 2 people in the UK will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime.
However, a new theory, grounded in metabolic science and holistic biology, is challenging this genetic model. And it could change everything about how we understand, prevent, and treat cancer.
Cancer isn't just about mutations
A recent essay published in PLOS Biology by Sui Huang and colleagues argues that the traditional genetic theory of cancer is deeply flawed.
For decades, the Somatic Mutation Theory (SMT) has ruled the cancer narrative.
It basically says a single cell, struck by a random mutation due to an error in its genetic code, turns against its host. It multiplies unchecked until it overruns your body.
Huang and his colleagues call the somatic mutation theory unproductive, highlighting inconsistencies in genetic data, such as cancers with no identifiable driver mutations and normal tissues that carry cancer-causing mutations without forming tumours.
They also point to experiments from decades ago showing cancer cells normalising -i.e. turning back into healthy cells - when placed in the right environment, while normal cells turned cancerous without a single genetic tweak.
The authors emphasise a crucial point: not all carcinogens are mutagens. Instead, some environmental toxins, lifestyle factors, and systemic imbalances may trigger cancer without causing DNA damage.
This shift in perspective has major implications for prevention and treatment.
Holistic systems approach
Huang and his colleagues advocate for a broader, more holistic approach to cancer that considers biological systems beyond genetic mutations.
This study presents a bold new idea: cancer isn’t just a genetic disease. It’s a problem with how cells are regulated and how their surroundings influence them, with metabolism playing a key role.
The researchers propose two big ideas:
-
Cancer attractors: They suggest that cancer happens when cells fall into certain "cancer attractor" states - natural patterns in our biology that can be triggered by stress, inflammation, toxins, or other disruptions. These states push cells into a primitive, fast-growing mode often linked to metabolic changes like the Warburg effect, where cells burn sugar rapidly even when oxygen is available.
-
The tissue environment: The study highlights that the environment around cells has a huge influence. If this environment is damaged by toxins, injury, or chronic inflammation, even healthy cells can turn cancerous. But when the environment heals, cancer cells can return to normal.
Why metabolism matters
Metabolic dysfunction is when your body’s system for creating and using energy isn’t working properly.
Imagine your body as a car engine. Metabolic dysfunction is like having dirty fuel, clogged pipes, and an engine that’s not running efficiently.
Metabolic dysfunction is at the root of conditions like obesity, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as cancer development. Cancer cells are known to rely on altered metabolic pathways to survive and grow.
This ties into the foundational concept that our cells constantly respond to their environment.
When tissues are exposed to chronic stress, toxins, or poor nutrition, this can drive cells into a chaotic state. Even without genetic mutations.
In this light, cancer is not merely a 'genetic lottery gone wrong' but a complex response to environmental, metabolic, and systemic pressures.
This understanding means that we can exert some control over our health and healing by manipulating our environments down to the cellular level.
What does this mean for prevention and treatment?
If metabolism and tissue health play a larger role in cancer than previously thought, then lifestyle changes and metabolic therapies become powerful tools for prevention and even treatment.
By improving metabolic health, we create environments where cancer and disease is less likely to thrive.
Here are the most well-studies strategies for support metabolic health:
-
Exercise: Improves insulin sensitivity, enhances mitochondrial function, and reduces inflammation - all of which support healthy cell function.
-
Nutrition: A nutrient diet that stabilises blood sugar, supports gut health, and reduces inflammation helps maintain cellular equilibrium. A ketegenic diet also shows promise as one option.
-
Herbs and supplements: Plant, fungi and even animal-based supplements can support efficient metabolism. Key nutrients like magnesium, creatine, and antioxidants can also directly support metabolic pathways.
-
Light and Environment: Natural light exposure regulates circadian rhythms, which in turn influence immune health, metabolism, and inflammation.
-
Toxin Removal: Reducing exposure to plastics, food additives, and environmental pollutants can help protect against cellular dysfunction.
-
Stress Management: Chronic stress can impair metabolism and immune function, potentially accelerating cancer risk. Nature, meditation, breathwork, and mindfulness practices can help restore balance.
A New Path Forward
This new perspective suggests that fighting cancer isn’t just about targeting rogue genes.
It's about supporting the entire biological system by nurturing healthy metabolic processes, which will reduce the conditions that allow cancer to emerge in the first place.
The implications of this research are profound. Cancer may not be an inevitable outcome of ageing or genetic misfortune, but a reflection of deeper metabolic imbalances that can be influenced through our choices.
Ultimately, it's an empowering message that offers people greater control over their own health.
The body is dynamic, adaptable, and resilient. By aligning with its natural processes, we can create an internal environment where health flourishes and disease struggles to take hold.
Big pharma resistance
The future of cancer prevention may not lie in genetic manipulation, but in the everyday choices we make.
The future of cancer treatment may turn away from chemo and pricey targeted drugs, to "normalising" therapies that target the tissue environment to encourage cells out of cancer attractor states.
Sounds great, right? Not to some.
It's no conspiracy that Big Pharma has invested billions in mutation-targeting drugs, and a shift to holistic cancer treatment threatens a medical empire built on genetic dogma.
Will they pivot, or fight to keep the old story alive?
The study hints at resistance, noting how anomalies in the research have been ignored for decades.
However, as sequencing costs drop, data piles up, and AI gets better, the truth might be unstoppable.
Rewrite your story
So, where does this leave you? With hope and power.
Cancer’s not a genetic death sentence. It’s a wake-up call to take your metabolic health and environment seriously.
Start small: cut the processed foods, walk in the sun, breathe deep.
You don’t need money or much time to make improvements. Nature and exercise are free. Home cooked food is cheaper than takeaways. Love and gratitude, limitless.
Modern research and cutting edge thinkers are leading a revolution in the understanding of human health. Share this story. Ask your doctor about metabolism’s role.
And dig into the science yourself. Because the more we know, the less we fear, the better we do.
Sources:
The Metabolic Interplay between Cancer and Other Diseases
The end of the genetic paradigm of cancer
Metabolic syndrome and risk of cancer: Which link?
The metabolic syndrome in cancer survivors
Current perspectives between metabolic syndrome and cancer
Subscribe to out emails below for more insights into metabolic health, brain health, mushrooms, and more...
