Research on new theory that cancers are species of their own. Over a hundred years of research have shown that all cancers are autonomous, have individual karyotypes and arise only years to decades after initiation by carcinogens. But despite enormous efforts since, explanations for these long-established characteristics are still debated. The currently prevailing mutation theory holds that carcinogenesis is slow, because it is caused by rare, stepwise accumulations of 3–8 gene mutations, termed oncogenes. The mutation theory considers the individual karyotypes of cancers as “consequences” of carcinogenesis. But the mutation theory has still not identified a set of mutations that is sufficient to convert a normal tissue-specific cell to an abnormal autonomous cancer cell.