{"id":3840,"date":"2015-01-23T10:45:23","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T10:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dr-rath-foundation.org\/?p=3840"},"modified":"2019-11-05T15:52:04","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T15:52:04","slug":"cancer-is-not-just-pure-bad-luck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dr-rath-foundation.org\/2015\/01\/cancer-is-not-just-pure-bad-luck\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer is not just pure \u2018bad luck\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

This particular study<\/a>, published by researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, Maryland) in a prominent journal, Science, measured the proportion of cancer incidence across 31 tissue types using a mathematical model. The study authors concluded that in 22 cancers, or two-thirds of the total reviewed, they could not find any cause for the appearance of cancer other than “bad luck” or the random mutations (errors) that may arise during DNA replication in normal, noncancerous stem cells. This conclusion, when broadcast over the media, gives the impression that people are powerless when it comes to the prevention of cancer. Supposedly, the only options left are early diagnosis, possible surgery, chemotherapy<\/a> and \u2026death.<\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t this remind us that, centuries ago, human diseases were presented as a \u2018curse from heaven\u2019 or as the \u2018punishment\u2019 of sinners? It was the discovery of bacteria and infectious agents that gradually eliminated this nonsensical idea. Are we turning back to the \u2018dark ages\u2019 of medicine? If we accept that \u2018bad luck\u2019 is the cause of cancer, why has the number of such unfortunate cancer victims dramatically increased in recent decades? What has accelerated the occurrence of such \u2018bad luck\u2019?<\/p>\n

An acceptance of the idea that cancer is simply \u201cbad luck\u201d may deter many people from adopting healthy dietary habits and life-style changes, and may even promote reckless behavior. People may ask themselves, \u201cWhy should I deprive myself of the pleasure of smoking if my cancer risk is only a matter of chance?\u201d Moreover, it might be tempting for lawyers to cite \u201cbad luck\u201d as scientific evidence in legal trials when defending manufacturers of carcinogenic drugs and chemicals charged with polluting our environment and exposing us to health risks, thus obscuring their responsibility for the harm done to individuals and the human population at large. To take this line of argument further, if cancer is just \u201cbad luck\u201d, why do we need an environmental protection agency, food standards, or anything that is supposedly intended to protect our health?<\/p>\n

The media blurs, distorts and ignores a mountain of evidence showing that cancer is in fact preventable, that it can be controlled and that tumor development is too complex to be branded simply as \u201cbad luck.\u201d<\/p>\n

First, understand what a \u2018mutation\u2019 is<\/h3>\n

\"\"Mutation is a natural process that results in changing a sequence of nucleotides (building blocks) in cellular DNA. Mutation is actually more common than many people think; not all mutations are undesirable or bad and they make us all different and unique.<\/p>\n

Every cell which is ready to divide makes an identical copy of its DNA so that it can pass it to a newly formed cell. \u00a0Such copies, however, are not always identical and each time one of our cells divides it can make about 120,000 typos in its newly formed DNA strand. \u00a0Fortunately, the cells are able to repair most of these mistakes by having specific DNA repairing machinery working constantly, fixing mismatched nucleotides and splicing broken DNA strands back together. Nevertheless, some DNA \u2018misprints\u2019 may escape. If a cell accumulates too many DNA errors that its repair machinery cannot fix, it either stops dividing or self-destructs in a process called apoptosis. If any of these processes go wrong, then the cell might enter a path of becoming cancerous. However, it still faces numerous obstacles on its way to being called \u201ccancer\u201d.<\/p>\n

Not all mutations are \u2018bad luck\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"Most DNA changes occur in the large areas of the genome that sit between genes, but usually they have no effect. When the change occurs within genes, whilst there is usually a consequence from it, even then mutation only rarely causes death or disease. Most often, mutation gives rise to variations that are neither good nor bad, just different, such as those affecting our ability to detect smell, the color of our hair or skin, or our body shape etc. Overall, these changes facilitate population changes over time.<\/p>\n

Some unrepaired DNA changes in a cell that will become an egg or a sperm allow them to be passed down to offspring. But also, thanks to mutation, we all have some new variations that were not present in our parents. Variations that help an organism survive and reproduce are passed on to the next generation. Variations that hinder survival and reproduction are eliminated from the population. This process of natural selection can lead to significant changes in the appearance, behavior, or physiology of individuals in a population in just a few generations.<\/p>\n

How mutation can lead to cancer<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"Somatic mutations, the ones occurring in cells that make up the body and that are not involved in reproduction, have long been recognized as a feature of cancer. However, the chance of developing cancer from a single mutation is very small; therefore, cancer cells need to accumulate multiple and specific DNA errors.\u00a0 In addition, cancer has to overcome multiple safeguard systems that our body has at its disposal to protect us against it. These include complex intracellular repair machinery and the scavenging and destruction of such abnormal cells by our immune system.\u00a0 Many of these safeguards become less effective with age, which may explain the higher risk of cancer in older people. However, other factors are also involved as the rate of cancer incidence exceeds the rate of aging in our population.<\/p>\n

Mutation is not always a random unexpected event. It has been well established that radiation, chemicals, byproducts of cellular metabolism, free radicals and ultraviolet rays from the sun damage DNA in each of our cells every day. They affect the nucleotides themselves: converting one base to another, knocking a base off its backbone, or even causing a break in the DNA strand. The most potent carcinogens include cancer chemotherapy drugs which cause DNA damage also in healthy cells, thus triggering new cancers. Also, deficiency of certain vitamins and micronutrients can similarly facilitate DNA damage.<\/p>\n

The most critical mutations that can contribute to the development of cancer occur in specific groups of genes, which can be classified as:<\/p>\n