A new study published in the journal Nature highlights that environmental factors such as sun or smoking, are responsible for more cancers than random DNA mutations.
Indeed, the researchers attribute 70-90% of cancers to environmental factors (UV radiation, etc.). Their analysis was conducted after a particularly controversial Article published in January in the journal Science, which argued that the inevitable human errors in coding were the leading cause of cancer.
Thus, the new study shows that “obviously” random errors occurring during cell division contributes “only modestly” in the development of many cancers.
Moreover, some experts do not participate in the analysis, however, show more circumspect. Giles Hooker of Cornell University in New York, believes that the findings of this new study are based on a very simplistic model of the mutation of cancer and figures should best be considered as rough estimates adding that “taking into account only the lowest risk of cancers and assuming that the mutation rate is the same for all tissues, the study maximizes the risk attributed to environmental factors. ”
For his part, Paul Pharaoh, Professor epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge, said that “these findings do not affect cancer treatment but we say that most cancers could be prevented if we knew the risks extrinsic” .
Note that the study of Science had provoked a lively debate, the Advanced assumption that “the fault of bad luck” in DNA mutation could explain 75% of cases of different cancers, leading a life healthy could not prevent these cancers. However, the World Health Organization had also expressed “strong disagreement” with these conclusions, which could have “very negative consequences” for research against cancer and behaviors to follow (no tobacco, no including alcohol).
