A unified therapeutic theory for treating cancer via master regulators of the universal apoptosis network

Abstract Three universal types of cancer are identified, based on the malfunction of a certain set of proteins and regulatory RNAs, irrespective of the organ in which they are located: Cancer Type 1, where cancer cells lack either a functional (a) P14ARF gene, or (b) a P53 gene; Cancer Type 2, where cancer cells lack a functional DINO lncRNA; and Cancer Type 3, where cancer cells have abnormally high MDM2 protein activity. New therapeutic targets were discovered for each type of cancer that pave the way for treating cancer irrespective of the organ it lies in. Until now, current cancer treatments have been organ-specific, and no common pan-organ denominator has been identified. Furthermore, cancer biochemistry has been studied in isolation, one pathway at a time, without considering the complex interactions between proteins and regulatory RNAs, which are characteristic of a living human organism. This work develops a new unified therapeutic theory that identifies novel master regulators of apoptosis as targets for treating cancer regardless of which organ the cancer lies in, through a novel biochemical flowsheet of a universal apoptosis network comprising approximately 100 pathways (80% activation and 20% inhibition), based on a critical analysis of 172 scientific publications that considered all the complex interactions between proteins and regulatory RNAs.