Cancer Not Just “Bad Luck”

A new study refutes one published earlier this year that claimed random mutations were at the root of many tumors.

Written byJef Akst

| 2 min read

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FLICKR, USAG HUMPHREYSOnly 10 to 30 percent of cancer cases can be attributed to random mutations in DNA, according to a study published this week (December16) in Nature. Rather, the majority of cancer cases stem from carcinogens such as toxic chemicals and radiation, the researchers found.

The results challenge those of a January Science study, which found that cell division and random mutations in DNA play a principal role in the development of cancer. A press release and many media outlets distributed the story, stating that some tissues’ higher rates of cancer are simply due to “bad luck”—meaning that avoiding things like the sun and cigarettes would not stem many instances of cancer.

“There’s no question what’s at stake here,” John Potter of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, who was not involved in which study told Nature. “This informs whether or not we expend energy on prevention.”

After the Science paper was published earlier this year, cancer researcher Yusuf Hannun of Stony Brook University in New York ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
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Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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