Most cases of cancer may be associated with unhealthy
lifestyles rather than our genes, experts have claimed. According to
researchers, factors in the world around us— from diet to sunlight,
cigarettes and disease— play a far bigger role in fuelling cancer than
DNA. In fact, about 90 per cent of cases would be wiped up if these
triggers could all be avoided, they said.
While this may not seem surprising, scientists have long been divided
over the issue. The controversy was stoked last year when researchers
claimed that most cancer cases are caused by errors in DNA that are
generated at random as the body ages and its cells divide. The study
concluded that this meant most cases of the disease are down to ‘bad
luck’, rather than living an unhealthy lifestyle. The latest study used
some of the same data as the first piece of research—however it came to
the opposite conclusion.
Writing in the journal, Nature, Dr. Yusuf Hannun, of Stony Brook
University in the US, said that while luck plays a role, factors in the
world around us are far more important. These include our diet, alcohol
intake, whether we smoke, getting sunburn, some viruses, pollution and
possibly other factors that have yet to be identified. In the study, he
claimed that the genes we inherit from our parents actually only account
for a very small number of cancer cases. He concluded: “These results
are important for strategising cancer prevention, research and public
health.’
Experts have praised the research, saying Dr. Hannun had built a
‘compelling case’ for his argument and that these results demonstrate
that a large proportion of cancer is caused by environmental factors and
are preventable if their underlying causes are identified. ‘If we could
wave a magic wand and get rid of all possible external risk factors
there would still be cancers. But there would be fewer of them.”
