  A small but growing number of people are finding interesting parallels
between ecosystems as studied by ecologists (think of a Savanna or the Amazon
rain forest or a Coral reef) and tumours1-3. The idea of viewing cancer from an
ecological perspective has many implications but fundamentally, it means that
we should not see cancer just as a group of mutated cells. A more useful
definition of cancer is to consider it a disruption in the complex balance of
many interacting cellular and microenvironmental elements in a specific organ.
This perspective means that organs undergoing carcinogenesis should be seen as
sophisticated ecosystems in homeostasis that cancer cells can disrupt. It also
makes cancer seem even more complex but may ultimately provides isights that
make it more treatable. Here we discuss how ecological principles can be used
to better understand cancer progression and treatment, using several
mathematical and computational models to illustrate our argument.
