March 24, 2017.
According to a study conducted by a team of researchers at the Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, two-thirds of cancer cases are due to chance.
2 out of 3 cancers are due to chance
Studies continue to multiply on the factors of cancer: tobacco, alcohol, lack of regular physical activity, diet, pesticides, pollution … However, according to a study published in the journal Science, 66% of genetic mutations responsible for cancer are said to be the result of random errors during cell division. In total, only 29% of cancers are due to environmental factors and lifestyle.
” THEmore often these mutations are harmless, but sometimes they occur in a gene that triggers cancer which is only due to bad luck », Explained Dr Bert Vogelstein, who took part in the work. To reach this conclusion, the study’s authors looked at 4.8 billion people and studied 32 different types of cancer in 69 countries.
Detect cancers earlier to better treat them
They were thus able to observe that 95% of prostate, brain and bone cancers and 77% of pancreatic cancers were due to an error in cell division. As for lung cancer, it is more the result of smoking (65%) than chance (35%). According to the authors of this work, these conclusions are not in contradiction with epidemiological studies, which explain that around 40% of cancers could be avoided.
“These preventive behaviors should be encouraged, however many patients will go on to develop cancer because of these random errors in DNA copying.Added Dr Bert Vogelstein. According to him, this observation is an encouragement to find a way to detect cancers earlier in order to treat them better. Even in a world without tobacco, there will always be cancers and they must be able to be cured.
Marine Rondot
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