City Research Online

Overestimating the Role of Environment in Cancers

Noble, R. ORCID: 0000-0002-8057-4252, Kaltz, O., Nunney, L. & Hochberg, M. E. (2016). Overestimating the Role of Environment in Cancers. Cancer Prevention Research, 9(10), pp. 773-776. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.capr-16-0126

Abstract

In a recent article, Wu and colleagues (Nature 2016;529:43-47) review previous studies and present new estimates for the contribution of extrinsic factors to cancer development. The new estimates are generally close to 100%, even for bone and brain cancers that have no known associations with lifestyle and are typically not considered to be preventable. We find that the results of Wu and colleagues are incompatible with previous estimates derived from epidemiological and genetic data. We further argue that their methods are fundamentally flawed because they overlook important effects of tissue type on cancer risk. We therefore conclude that their results give a misleading view of cancer etiology and preventability. Cancer Prev Res; 9(10); 773-6. ©2016 AACR.

Publication Type: Article
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0254 Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology (including Cancer)
Departments: School of Science & Technology > Mathematics
SWORD Depositor:
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