Rolling the dice on cancer

Chicago Tribune: Albert Einstein famously said that “God doesn’t play dice” with the universe: Everything is by design.

But could getting cancer be a random roll of dice? Could it be that cancer is more about bad luck than heredity, unhealthy behaviors or harmful exposure to a range of environmental toxins and pollutants?

A recent study in the journal Science reached the astonishing conclusion that two-thirds of the risk of getting many cancers is attributable to “random mutations” when healthy cells divide. Mutated cells trigger chaotic growth that leads to cancer.

The researchers’ conclusion: Bad luck, not bad behavior or heredity, steers a huge number of cancer diagnoses.

CAR-ACCIDENT COMPARISON

“Getting cancer could be compared to getting into a car accident,” write the co-authors, Cristian Tomasetti and Bert Vogelstein of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

But that’s not an argument to abandon a healthy diet, stop exercising, start a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit, or skip the cancer screening. Remember, some cancers remain highly treatable, even curable, if caught early enough.