Excerpt
SUMMARY: A combination of luck, hereditary and lifestyle choices have all been linked to cause cancer. But a new study finds that luck, or random DNA mutation during cell division, is the primary factor behind more cancers than previously thought. Jeffrey Brown speaks with Cristian Tomasetti of Johns Hopkins University about why this news supports healthy lifestyle choices more than ever, and how doctors and patients can use the study to protect against cancer.
JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour): According to a new study from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published today in the journal “Science,” more cases of cancer than have commonly been thought can be primarily explained by random DNA mutations that occur during cell division, rather than by heredity, lifestyle choices, or environmental influences.
The study looked at 31 types of cancer, including leukemia, bone, testicular, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers. Breast and prostate cancers were not included in the study.
Cristian Tomasetti is one of the authors of the report and a biomathematician at Johns Hopkins. He joins me now from Baltimore.
Well, thank you for joining us.
It seems important, first, perhaps, to explain what you were looking at. What does bad luck or chance mean when it comes to getting cancer?
CRISTIAN TOMASETTI, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: Yes, what it means is that every time a cell, in particular a stem cell, the lonely stem cells, every time it divides, a random mutation can occur and can hit the DNA of this cell.
And if that mutation happens to be in a gene that is the key regulator and known to be associated with cancer, so let’s say a bad mutation, that may lead us to cancer. So that’s what we meant for bad luck.
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