Cancer is not a single disease. It is a large set of diseases that are very different in outcome. However, all forms of cancer start with one or more genetic changes or mutations that give rise to transformed cells. These transformed cells, can in turn go through other changes that can give rise to cancer. The mutations that give rise to transformed cells occur at a low rate all the time but our cells usually catch these changes in DNA and repair them. However, stuff in our environment can increase the rate of these mutations beyond the rate at which the DNA can be repaired and these agents are called mutagens. Examples of mutagens in our environment include chemicals, physical substances such as asbestos, and radiation such as the ultraviolet portion of sunlight and radiation emitted from radioactive substances.

So how do we reduce our risk of cancer? Lets look at a simple equation.

exposure to mutagens X tumor enhancer genes
Chances of cancer = —————————————————————-
immunosuppressor genes X innate immunity X acquired immunity

If you have a relative in your family tree who has had cancer, you might be more likely to get cancer than someone who does not. This is because some genes tend to enhance the generation of cancer while others tend to suppress it. If you have an overactive form of one or more tumor enhancer genes, this will increase your chances of getting cancer, while if you have a normal functioning form of an immunsuppressor gene, this will reduce your chances of cancer. There is not much you can do about what genes you have except to complain to your mom and dad. However, there are a couple parts of the equation above that you can do something about. These include your exposure to mutagens and the state of your innate and acquired immunity.

You can reduce your exposure to mutagens by avoiding sunburning, eating highly processed foods with lots of preservatives in moderation, eating lots of vegetables that have high levels of anti-oxidants (eg. Broccoli, carrots etc.) and avoiding people like Homer Simpson, who accidentally bring home radioactive substances from work.

It is generally believed that your immune system can prevent cancer by recognizing and destroying transformed cells before they give rise to cancers. What is controversial is whether the immune system plays a role in fighting cancer once it has occurred. The capacity of the immune system to prevent cancer by destroying transformed cells is believed to be part of the reason that the incidence of cancer increases with aging when our immune systems start to lose some of their pep. Therefore, another way to decrease your chances of getting cancer is to take care of your immune system, which is the subject of other articles on or soon to be on this web site (see the article, “Nutrition and Immunity” on this site).

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 5th, 2005 at 2:40 pm and is filed under Health and The Immune System. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.