“Bad luck” hypothesis and cancer prevention: translating the debate to more actions

Excerpt

Etiologic research constitutes an essential part of both biology and epidemiology. For cancer, our biological understanding about its root cause has been significantly advanced by genetic research in the past few decades. It is now widely accepted that cancer is the result of accumulation of gene mutations that successively increase cell proliferation [1]. On the other hand, population-based epidemiologic studies have focused on extrinsic and hereditary causes of cancer and identified a variety of modifiable risk factors. These data have been translated into effective prevention strategies (e.g., tobacco control) that have largely contributed to the decline in cancer mortality in the recent decades (e.g., 27% decrease between 1991 and 2016 in the United States) [2]. …