Just started reading this book where @AthenaAktipis argues that "our very existence as multicellular organisms - as paragons of multicellular cooperation - is inextricably tied to our susceptibility to cancer."

From reading the intro & from having heard some of Athena’s thoughts on this topic previously, I surmise that the book will largely be about explaining a paradox that cancer represents:

Thinking through this paradox can help us to understand the evolution of cooperation. On the one hand, cells are like little individualist entities that can mutate & evolve in competition with other cells in the body (cheating cancer cells).

On the other hand, cells can be collectivist, working in cooperation with the other cells in the body by relying on mechanisms that have been favored by natural selection to suppress cheating.

Athena argues that it's almost impossible to suppress cancer because despite having evolved complex mechanisms to do so, multi-cellular organisms can't completely suppress the capacity of individual cells to mutate & evolve independently.

For e.g. Athena mentions how there's competition within our bodies between the paternally- & maternally-inherited genes. "Some of the genes we inherited from our fathers are epigenetically set to promote growth & cell proliferation, contributing to an increased risk of cancer."

Athena's approach lends itself to a particular therapeutic approach for treating cancer, which she describes by using the metaphor of 2 Greek gods of war: Athena & Ares. "Athena is the goddess of wisdom & war, but not just any kind of war; she is the goddess of strategy"

"Rather than winning by brute force, Athena wins by understanding the goals & vulnerabilities of the enemy & then exploiting those to achieve victory with minimum force & without unnecessary collateral damage. Ares, on the other hand, approaches battle with maximum aggression..."

"Cancer is more than just a disease; it is a window into the origins of life, the challenges of large-scale cooperation, the nature of multicellularity, and the process of evolution itself".

That sums up the intro, looking forward to reading further!