LAUSR

The causes and symptoms of cancer are often described in physical terms, for example as DNA mutations leading to increased cell proliferation. These understandings have been immensely informative, but physical changes are only one of several ways to understand what cancer is and why it behaves the way it does. An alternative perspective builds upon Claude Shannon's work in information theory, and sees cancer as a result of missing, noisy, and/or distorted information. In this talk I summarize existing research and discuss the implications for understanding cancer as a disease of information. I then explain how detecting and treating cancer look different when viewed through this lens. In particular, I discuss how this approach offers the hope for rehabilitating cancer cells by restoring expected information flows, in contrast to some current treatments which exacerbate information disruptions. Citation Format: Adam Julian Goldstein. Cancer as a disease of information. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 4308.