The Long Evolutionary Journey of Cancer from Ancestor to Modern Humans

: In this article, we review various key issues in cancer development and progression that have important implications for both cancer prevention and treatment: (1) evolutionary aspects of cancer appearance; (2) evidence of organ-specific adult stem cells as cancer-initiating cells; (3) the immortality of cancer-initiating cells; (4) cancer cell loss of growth control, contact inhibition, terminal differentiation, and apoptosis; (5) stem-cell versus de-differentiation theory of carcinogenesis; (6) mutations in cancer; (7) oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes; (8) epigenetics as the rate-limiting step in carcinogenesis; (9) the potential role of cultural, lifestyle, and nutritional behaviors in oncology; and (10) changes of commensal microbial community and its metagenome in carcinogenesis and tumor progression. Relevant, combined evidence is discussed from a standpoint whereby cancer is considered a multifaceted disease requiring integrated biomolecular and clinico-pathological information to design and implement strategies for either primary prevention or therapy.