Current oncology views extracellular vesicles (EVs) as messengers in a "biological dialogue" for pre-metastatic niche preparation. This paper rejects this cooperative metaphor. We propose that cancer represents a de-evolution to billion-year-old algorithms of physical aggression. Drawing on the Szostak model of vesicular competition, we define cancer as Atavistic Vesicular Imperialism. By employing mechanisms of "vesicular cannibalism," membrane tension-driven fusion, and ionic fortification—tactics that dominated the prebiotic "battlefield" before the emergence of genetic life—cancerous EVs execute a biochemical annexation of healthy tissue that overrides modern multicellular defense systems.
Peter Mikuláš (Sun,) studied this question.