The development and formation of tumor science: key aspects

Abstract

Cancer incidence is the most important environmental indicator that characterizes the specific (carcinogenic) impact of environmental factors on the population. It was shown that the main etiological factors of malignant neoplasms are: anthropogenic pollution of the environment, ionizing and ultraviolet radiation, factors of production processes, some viruses, features of an unhealthy lifestyle – tobacco smoking, unhealthy diet, severe stress, etc. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, 85 % of tumors in humans can be attributed to environmental factors. It has been established that 100 years ago 1 in 30 people fell ill with cancer, today – 1 in 5. Every year, 9 million new cases of malignant neoplasms and more than 6 million deaths from them are registered in the world. The International Union Against Cancer (UICC) estimates that in 2050 there will be 27 million new cases of cancer in the world, and 17.5 million men and women will die from this disease. Key milestones in the development of world oncology are discussed. The key directions of work of leading foreign and domestic oncologists (R. Virkhova, N. N. Petrov, A. Ganau, M. A. Novinsky, N. N. Blokhin, L. M. Shabad, etc.) are given. It should be noted that shifts in determining the causes of malignancy became possible after the decoding of the human genome, as well as the genetic code of a number of forms of tumors – breast cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, brain tumors and other neoplasms. Attention is paid to the main approaches to modern cancer treatment. It is noted that the achievements of molecular biology allowed in the XXI century. to move from the empirical choice of a method for the treatment of patients with the same tumor to the personalization of treatment based on the study of the genotype of the neoplasm in individual patients.