New study suggests cancer is a case of ‘bad luck’

According to a recent study carried out by the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Centre in the United States, and published on the journal Science, two-thirds of cancer types analysed (22 cancer types) were caused by chance rather than lifestyle choices. The other third (the remaining nine cancer types) on the other hand were mostly affected by lifestyle choices and genetics. This group included lung cancer, where smoking is the major cause, and skin cancer, which is often attributed to sun exposure.

A mathematical model created by the scientists aims to show that there is no such thing as ‘good genes’ which may prevent someone from getting cancer despite poor lifestyle choices such as smoking, being overweight and binge-drinking. The model hopes to quantify how these three factors contribute to the development of cancer.

Bert Vogelstein, the Clayton professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University school of medicine and one of the authors of the aforementioned paper said: “Cancer-free longevity in people exposed to cancer-causing agents, such as tobacco, is often attributed to their ‘good genes’, but the truth is that most of them simply had good luck.”