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Athena Aktipis
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The Cheating Cell: How Evolution Helps Us Understand and Treat Cancer Paperback – September 7, 2021

by Athena Aktipis (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 44 ratings
See all formats and editions
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A fundamental and groundbreaking reassessment of how we view and manage cancer

When we think of the forces driving cancer, we don’t necessarily think of evolution. But evolution and cancer are closely linked because the historical processes that created life also created cancer. The Cheating Cell delves into this extraordinary relationship, and shows that by understanding cancer’s evolutionary origins, researchers can come up with more effective, revolutionary treatments.

Athena Aktipis goes back billions of years to explore when unicellular forms became multicellular organisms. Within these bodies of cooperating cells, cheating ones arose, overusing resources and replicating out of control, giving rise to cancer. Aktipis illustrates how evolution has paved the way for cancer’s ubiquity, and why it will exist as long as multicellular life does. Even so, she argues, this doesn’t mean we should give up on treating cancer―in fact, evolutionary approaches offer new and promising options for the disease’s prevention and treatments that aim at long-term management rather than simple eradication. Looking across species―from sponges and cacti to dogs and elephants―we are discovering new mechanisms of tumor suppression and the many ways that multicellular life-forms have evolved to keep cancer under control. By accepting that cancer is a part of our biological past, present, and future―and that we cannot win a war against evolution―treatments can become smarter, more strategic, and more humane.

Unifying the latest research from biology, ecology, medicine, and social science, The Cheating Cell challenges us to rethink cancer’s fundamental nature and our relationship to it.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Princeton University Press
  4. Publication date
    September 7, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0691212198
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0691212197
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Aktipis takes an evolutionary approach to cancer, tracing the ways cells ‘cheat’ natural selection and showing how the human body evolved to outsmart many of those threats. She invites readers to put themselves in the role of a cancer cell and learn about the ways in which the disease and the history of human existence are intertangled."---Erin Blakemore, Washington Post

"Darwinian approach to evolution of cancer and cancer-resistance. Brilliant book, up there with Nesse & Williams."---Richard Dawkins on Twitter

"The Cheating Cell reads like a deep and personal hypothesis coming from a researcher who has spent over a decade studying the evolutionary foundations of cancer."---David C. S. Filice, Evolution

"The Cheating Cell makes for fascinating reading and forces a radical reconsideration of what cancer is and how we should deal with it."---Leon Vlieger, The Inquisitive Biologist

"A gem of outreach and science communication, the book takes the reader through an impressive amount of cancer research in a nontechnical and often illustrative way. . . . I recommend The Cheating Cell for its innovative approach, standing as a valuable contribution to the cross-fertilization of ideas from diverse domains of research, like social evolutionary theory and cancer research."---Simon Okholm, Metascience

Review

"The Cheating Cell is a fascinating book on a subject that’s gaining the prominence it deserves: cancer as an evolutionary phenomenon. Athena Aktipis works in the heart of this field and she deftly illuminates the subject for both scientists and general readers. The implications―for cancer treatment and for the understanding of our existence as multicellular creatures―are huge.”―David Quammen, author of The Tangled Tree

"The Cheating Cell is an instant classic―a book that will transform how physicians and their patients understand cancer, how investigators develop therapies, and how we as a society can work together to reduce the global burden of this disease. Masterful, powerful, and absolutely essential reading for anyone who truly wants to understand the nature of cancer, The Cheating Cell is a tour de force."―Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, MD, coauthor of Zoobiquity

"This wise, erudite, and engaging book will change how we think about cancer and life itself. Brilliantly illuminating how cancer is a form of evolution gone awry within our bodies, Athena Aktipis shows that we need an evolutionary approach to not only fight the disease but also live with it."―Daniel E. Lieberman, author of The Story of the Human Body

"This insightful and long-overdue book views cancer as a disease that results from the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of all multicellular organisms, from birth to death. Athena Aktipis does a masterful job of capturing the many threads of evolution and evolutionary theory that promise to enable a fundamental understanding of cancer and portend a new era of innovative prevention and treatment strategies."―Anna D. Barker, Arizona State University and former deputy director of the National Cancer Institute

"Cancer is more than a source of dread and tragedy―it is entwined with the nature of life and the forces that shaped it. Athena Aktipis has thought deeply about evolution and cancer, and provides an engaging and insightful explanation of why we are cursed with this malady."―Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now

"Trying to keep cheating cells at bay is a problem that connects humans, elephants, Tasmanian devils, and cacti alike. In The Cheating Cell, Athena Aktipis uses clear explanations and riveting examples to show how viewing cancer through an ecological and evolutionary lens allows us to better understand the disease, and can lead to more effective ways of lengthening lifespans in our ongoing battle with this most ancient of foes."―Kelly Weinersmith, coauthor of Soonish

"The one book to read for a true understanding of cancer and its control."―David Sloan Wilson, author of This View of Life

"The Cheating Cell turned my understanding of cancer on its head and you should read it."―Hank Green, New York Times bestselling author of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press; Reprint edition (September 7, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0691212198
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0691212197
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 44 ratings

About the author

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Athena Aktipis

Athena Aktipis

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Hi! I'm Athena Aktipis. I study cooperation across systems from human sharing to cancer. I co-founded the International Society for Evolution, Ecology and Cancer and I'm also the Director of Interdisciplinary Cooperation Initiative at Arizona State University (where I'm currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology). I am also the co-Director of The Human Generosity Project and the Cooperation Science Network. When I'm not researching cooperation and conflict across systems, I'm working on understanding the science behind zombification (when one organism hijacks another). In this capacity, I'm the chair of the Zombie Apocalypse Medicine Meeting and host of the Zombified Podcast.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
44 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Valerie Harris
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for learning about the evolving nature of cancer!
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2020
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed this book! Reading Aktipis' writing is refreshing - like sitting down for a candid conversation with a knowledgeable friend. Some books about cancer can be too clinical, while others merely scratch the surface; Athena has struck a perfect balance. It is accessible, informative, up-to-date, and an absolute pleasure to read. Looking at cancer from an evolutionary standpoint is a relatively new field, and this book should be considered essential reading for anyone looking to get up to speed. I especially enjoyed the chapter about cancer across the tree of life, who knew that cancer could be found in all of these different organisms? Additionally, the illustrations in this book are wonderful and really help to drive home the points being made. As a cancer biologist and an avid reader, I highly recommend!
8 people found this helpful
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Kab
5.0 out of 5 stars Evolutionary nature of cancer
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2022
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Great book. Discusses the evolutionary nature of cancer. And, the possibility of treating cancer as a controllable chronic condition. Fascinating details of adaptive theory are also discussed here.
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Cepheid
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but Repetitive
Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2020
Verified Purchase
I would give this book 3.5 stars, if half-stars were allowed. The author provides an interesting evolutionary argument for cancer using an unexpected but effective theoretical framework. The first 3-4 chapters, however, were too simplistic and slow for my taste. I don't have a medical background, but I still felt the information was presented in a "dumbed down" manner. The book gains momentum in later chapters. Her strategies for dealing with cancer were intriguing, and I look forward to exploring some of her references in more detail.

What I disliked the most, however, was that every chapter was far too repetitive. She kept repeating the same chapter theme over and over without adding further insights, which made for a tedious read at times.
6 people found this helpful
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James A Reed III
5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2021
Verified Purchase
This work takes an innovative look at a very old situation, cancer in humans. Most importantly, the book is accessible to more people than those with a terminal degree in evolutionary medicine. Dr Akitpis very clearly coveys her message while weaving in key evolutionary and medical concepts, and provides a new way to think about living with a treating cancer.
One person found this helpful
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Cathryn Townsend
5.0 out of 5 stars Complex subject matter clearly communicated
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2021
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This book packs fascinating theory about the evolution of cooperative strategies and about the nature of cancer into an easily digested format. I really enjoyed it, and I learnt a lot.
One person found this helpful
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Carlo Maley
5.0 out of 5 stars The best and most lucid way to understand cancer (and what we might do about it)
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2021
This book lays out the fundamental understanding of cancer, in clear, easily digestible prose. It places cancer in the context of the grand sweep of the history of life on Earth. Cancer first appeared with the first multicellular organisms that evolved (about 2 billion years ago) - in fact, you can think of cancer as the main problem preventing the evolution of multicellularity - how do single cells cooperate to build a multicellular body, without some of those cells reverting back to their single cellular strategy - cheating on the other cells. Cancer has been a problem for all multicellular life ever since, not just for animals, but for plants, fungi, algae, etc. I find it reassuring to understand that cancer is just a fact of life, all life, and that many organisms can survive with cancer without dying from it. Aktipis elegantly flows from this organismal level understanding of cancer, down to the cellular (and genetic) level, where cells are mutating, competing and evolving within a body. This understanding has important implications for what has gone wrong in our treatment of cancer, and how we could do better, transforming cancer from a lethal disease into one we can control.

I use this book when I teach my seminar on cancer as a gentle introduction to cancer. My students really like it, especially the memorable metaphors and illustrations that help them integrate the more complex scientific papers we read later in the seminar. If you want one book to understand cancer, and an easy read at that, this is your book.
2 people found this helpful
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Hong Kyu
1.0 out of 5 stars No mention on Rudolph Virchow nor "cancer is a wound that does not heal".
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2024
Verified Purchase
I expected that the author try to convince me cancer is a byproduct of the healing process. Very much disappointed not to find comments on Virchow or his disciples, and the complexity theory (the Santa Fe Institute).
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Archimedes
5.0 out of 5 stars This book changes how I think about having a human body.
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2022
This book explains the body as a super-organism of cells, and the cancer cells are the cheaters in the society. It makes a ton of sense, and is much easier to understand this way then those cell biology descriptions of cancer.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

DR. PAULO FINURAS
5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2021
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The Cheating cell: this is one of the best books I have read to date. masterful. I advise you to read it strongly.
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Mrs. Iris R. Simantel
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 15, 2020
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Brilliant book and excellent service. Highly recommend
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