That’s bad luckand it’s the primary cause of most cancer cases, says a Johns Hopkins Medicine research study.
Roughly two-thirds of cancers in adults can be attributed to random mutations in genes capable of driving cancer growth, said two scientists who ran statistics on cancer cases.
That may sound jaw-dropping. And Johns Hopkins anticipates that the study will change the way people think about cancer risk factors.
They also believe it could lead to changes in the funding of cancer studies, with a greater focus on finding ways to detect those cancers attributed to random mutations in genes at early, curable stages.
Smoking can still kill you
But, no, that’s not permission to smoke or to not use sunblock.
Some forms of cancer are exceptions, where lifestyle and environment play a big role. Lung cancer is one of them. So is skin cancer.
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“We have good epidemiological data to show that people can reduce their risk of cancer and I would encourage them to do those things,” he said.
They include not smoking, managing their weight so they don’t become obese and taking physical exercise, he said.
As for the suggestion the study’s findings may prompt changes in funding, Brawley said he would be pleased just to see more money go into research.
“Only 10% of the grants submitted to the NIH (National Institutes of Health) actually get funded because we have such a shortage of money,” he said.
“We invested in the United States last year $5 billion in cancer research. I would like to see more.”
CNN’s Laura Smith-Spark and Alexander Felton contributed to this report.
