Advanced cancer is one of the major problems in oncology as currently, despite the recent technological and scientific advancements, the mortality of metastatic disease remains very high at 70–90%. The field of oncology is in urgent need of novel ideas in order to improve quality of life and prognostic of cancer patients. The Cancer and Evolution Symposium organized online October 14–16, 2020 brought together a group of specialists from different fields that presented innovative strategies for better understanding, preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer. Today still, the main reasons behind the high incidence and mortality of advanced cancer are, on one hand, the paucity of funding and effort directed to cancer prevention and early detection, and, on the other hand, the lack of understanding of the cancer process itself. I argue that besides being a disease, cancer is also a form of life, and, this frame of reference may provide a fresh look on this complex process. Here, I provide a different angle to several contemporary cancer theories discussing them from the perspective of “cancer-forms of life” (i.e. bionts) point of view. The perspectives and the several “bionts” introduced here, by no means exclusive or comprehensive, are just a shorthand that will hopefully encourage the readers, to further explore the contemporary oncology theoretical landscape.

晚期癌症是肿瘤学的主要问题之一，尽管最近的技术和科学进步，但转移性疾病的死亡率仍然很高，为 70-90%。肿瘤学领域迫切需要新的想法，以提高癌症患者的生活质量和预后。癌症与进化研讨会于 2020 年 10 月 14 日至 16 日在线组织，汇集了来自不同领域的一组专家，他们提出了更好地理解、预防、诊断和治疗癌症的创新策略。今天，晚期癌症高发病率和高死亡率背后的主要原因一方面是针对癌症预防和早期检测的资金和努力的缺乏，另一方面是对癌症过程缺乏了解本身。我认为，除了是一种疾病之外，癌症也是一种生命形式，这个参考框架可能会为这个复杂的过程提供一个全新的视角。在这里，我从“癌症生命形式”（即bionts）的角度对几种当代癌症理论提供了一个不同的角度来讨论它们。这里介绍的观点和几个“生物”，绝不是独家或全面的，只是一个速记，希望能鼓励读者进一步探索当代肿瘤学理论景观。