CLINICAL HISTORY OF CANCER AND CARCINOGENESIS: A REINTERPRETATION OF PRINCIPLE-BASED BIOETHICS

Abstract

Introduction: This article addresses the topic of bioethical principles and cancer carcinogenesis. Objectives: To describe the principles of bioethics: autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice, and to reconceptualize the word "carcinogenic." Methodology: A common characteristic of essays is that they serve as an open space for the dissemination of as- yet unproven points of view. The starting point for constructing meanings was to describe the principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice, including a reconceptualization of carcinogenesis and a debate on this important topic of bioethics in the biological sciences. Neutrality is the doctrine that scientific knowledge, ideally, can be neutral—that is, completely objective and decontextualized from history, culture, and human subjectivity. Discussion: The concept of carcinogen as an agent that can cause cancer has been redefined. It can take several years for a cancer cell to proliferate and form a visible tumor. The cell is subject to the action of initiating carcinogens, which alter the structure of its DNA. The altered cell continues to be subject to the action of agents that stimulate its multiplication and transform it into malignant or cancerous cells. Conclusions: We describe the concept of intentional carcinogen and recommend the use of the new concept in future studies of cancer in subjects throughout the stages of human development, as well as the importance of health education activities and early cancer diagnosis.