Treating Weapons Proliferatio

Abstract

Man will never discover peace and a cure for war, as we may reasonably hope that man will discover health through a cure for cancer. —Philip Jessup (1971:82) “I have bad news. I am very sorry to say, what you have is serious: it is cancer.” This is perhaps the diagnosis we fear the most after a medical examination, simply because cancer generally leads to death if left untreated. Cancer evolves from the derangement of some of the chemical processes of the body (Tannock, Hill, Bristow, & Harrington 2004; Kleinsmith 2005). It reveals its presence in cells, which make up tissues, which, in turn, make up the organs of the body. In a healthy person, millions of cells grow and divide naturally every day to replace dying cells or repair injury. Normal cells, therefore, reproduce only when instructed to do so by other cells in their vicinity, ensuring that each tissue maintains a size and architecture appropriate to the body’s needs. Cancer cells, in contrast, grow exponentially and largely irrespective of the laws that govern so precisely the growth of all normal cells. In so doing, cancer cells destroy normal cells. They are known to be “autonomous” in oncological terminology—oncology is the science of cancer (American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary 2004:572). This phenomenon can occur by the direct growth of cancer cells into adjacent tissue through a process known as “invasion.” As the cancer increases in size, it invades and destroys the normal tissue surrounding it. It can also occur by implantation into distant sites of the body by “metastasis.” This refers to the stage when cancer cells are transported