Scientists Put Most Cancer Cases Down To Simple Doom

Scientists have found that the occurrence of most cancer cases can be explained as simple random affliction rather than put down to genes, diet or lifestyle. Scientists from Johns Hopkins University found that random mutations that occur in DNA when cells divide are responsible for two-thirds of adult cancers. The remaining third are linked to environmental factors or defective inherited genes, according to the research published in the medical journal Science.

However, the scientists warn that poor lifestyle can add to the “bad luck factor” involved in cancer. Professor Bert Vogelstein, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US, said, “All cancers are caused by a combination of bad luck, the environment and heredity, and we’ve created a model that may help quantify how much of these three factors contribute to cancer development.

“This study shows that you can add to your risk of getting cancers by smoking or other poor lifestyle factors. However, many forms of cancer are due largely to the bad luck of acquiring a mutation in a cancer driver gene regardless of lifestyle and heredity factors. The best way to eradicate these cancers will be through early detection, when they are still curable by surgery.”

Culled from Presstv