Most cancers are caused by bad luck not genes or lifestyle, say scientists
telegraph.co.uk
telegraph.co.uk
> They found that the more cells need to divide to stay healthy, the more likely cancer is to develop.
So basically to improve our chances of staying cancer-free we ought to make such dietary and lifestyle choices that preserve the existing cells, reducing the need for their division?
And I suppose learning about genetic and environmental factors that correlate with higher chances of cancer in certain organs, and researching choices affecting cell division rate in those particular organs, can give additional significant advantage.
Is it that simple?
The chart at the top is a bit disingenuous - you can't really say that those cancers are "caused" by outside influences, but it does indicate that they actually play a role in a statistically significant number of cases, as opposed to the other cancers, which are due largely to random chance (if the study's results are correct). There are probably still a large number of lung cancer cases, for example, caused by bad luck.
Regardless of the conclusions regarding the environmentally influenced cancers, the impact on our understanding of other cancers, which include very common and deadly ones such as pancreatic and colon cancer, is still immense and important.
Disclaimer: IANA doctor or statistician