Thread: More Cancers Occur by Random Chance Than for Any Other Reason, Study Finds

Hmmmmmm.....



66% of Cancers Are Caused by DNA Error, Not Environment or Lifestyle, Finds Johns Hopkins Study | Big Think


The vast majority of cancers are just a mistake, an error in DNA replication, researchers say. In this way, developing cancer in many cases is unavoidable.


Vogelstein and Tomasetti wanted to know how often replication errors were the main driver of cancer, versus how often tobacco, pollution, inherited mutations, and other factors were. These researchers discovered that it’s actually the number of stem cell divisions in a given organ that’s associated with risk. Those sites with more stem cell divisions are at higher risk for cancer, such as the colon. Whereas those which have few stem cell divisions, such the brain, are less likely to develop it.

Originally Posted by crackerjack101

The vast majority

66% is not a 'vast majority', but point taken.

Not buying it....

Why The Causes Of Cancer Are More Than Just Random ?Bad Luck? | IFLScience

If you are really interested, read this. It is a different take on the study result.

Bert Vogelstein is one of the greatest scientific minds of our lifetime. A revolutionary pioneer in the field of cancer. Time will tell if he is on the mark with this one.

Originally Posted by nidhogg

Bert Vogelstein is one of the greatest scientific minds of our lifetime. A revolutionary pioneer in the field of cancer. Time will tell if he is on the mark with this one.

Indeed. There's some fascinating stuff out there for those of us that are interested.

Boring as buggery for them that's not.

give us a smoke then

The debate of what actually causes cancer will be going on for a loooooong time.