A new American study shows that external and environmental factors including unhealthy diets, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, air pollution, and sun exposure result in up to ninety percent of all cancers. This seems to repudiate past research that "bad luck" due to cell mutations have a major effect on developing cancerous tumors. The new study means that lifestyle changes such as starting a workout program or quitting smoking might be more effective at preventing the deadly disease than scientists thought in the past.
Researchers at Stony Brook University in New York conducted the study. It was published in the journal Nature.
A British statistician reported that based on the new study many cancer cases would not happen if all external risk factors were removed. The figure was 70 to 90 percent.
This new data goes against the findings of a study in January of this year by John Hopkins University. It suggested that about two-thirds of all cancers could not be prevented, and resulted from random cell division errors, according to The Telegraph.
Cancer results when a human body's stem cell goes out of control and starts to divide repeatedly. Genetic mutations after every cell division are one cause of cancer.
However, the new scientific study implies that after doing the math, random mutations due to cell division would cause fewer cancer cases than actually happen. Yusuf Hannun of Stony Brook University explained that the new study shows that genetic risk factors only cause a small effect on cancer growth.
The researchers also examined past studies of immigrants who moved from countries with low cancer rates to ones with high cancer rates. They soon developed tumors at the same ratio of their new home. This suggests that the cancer risks were due to environmental factors rather than genetic ones.
Other studies have revealed the effects of environmental and external factors on cancer rates. They have shown 86 percent of the risk of skin cancer is due to sun exposure, and 75 percent of the risk of colon cancer results from an unhealthy diet.
Dr. Emma Smith from Cancer Research UK shared that living a healthy lifestyle can indeed reduce the risk of developing the disease, according to BBC. However, it does not guarantee a person will stay cancer-free.
Here are some of the top ways to prevent cancer: