What is Cancer

• We will learn about the many systems that collectively contribute to our understanding of cancer, from the genes expressed to the ways proteins interact to how abnormal functioning of cells contribute to cancer in an individual. Considering these aspects for many patients at once is a powerful approach. 
• The field of Systems Biology is collaborative and integrates many scientific disciplines – biology, computer science, engineering, bioinformatics, physics and others – to predict how systems change, with the goal of finding solutions to the world’s most pressing health and environmental issues.
• From our genome to the molecules and cells that make up our organs and all the way out to ourselves in the world: We are fundamentally a network of networks. Systems biology looks across scales to integrate behaviors at different levels, to formulate hypotheses for biological function, and to provide insights into dynamical biological changes and disease.  

 Cancer  systems biology aims to understand important genetic mutations and  abnormal protein behavior in a cancer cell within the broader  physiological ecosystem and to predict the likely impact of drug  interventions.  PDF Article.