Published 10 September 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1603
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1603

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Known risk factors explain only one in three cancers, study finds

Roger Dobson

1 Abergavenny

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Known risk factors explain just 35% of cancers, a study has found (Annals of Oncology 2008 Sep 2, doi:10.1093/annonc/mdn597).

The French study estimated the proportion of deaths from cancer that occurred in France in 2000 that were attributable to known risk factors. The authors, from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, and other agencies, noted that although external factors are responsible for many human cancers, precise estimates of the contribution of known carcinogens in a given population have previously been scarce.

Tobacco smoking was responsible for the most deaths, 34 400, or 23.9% of the total of 143 644 deaths from cancer in 2000 (33.4% in men and 9.6% in women), followed by alcohol, with 9900 deaths, which was 6.9% of all cancer deaths (9.4% in men and 3.0% in women).

Chronic infections accounted for 5200 deaths (3.7%), and occupation was responsible for 3200 deaths . . . [Full text of this article]


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