• Question: What causes cancer ???

    Asked by waldock to Mike, Pip, Tianfu, Tim, Tom on 25 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 25 Jun 2012:

      I think a cancer can result from damage to the DNA in a cell. If it’s the right kind of damage, then the cell loses its ability to regulate reproduction and so keeps duplicating. Doing things like smoking or sunbathing causes damage to the DNA and so the probability of having the right sort of damage to a cell is higher.

      There may be other causes of cancer, and there are definitely better explanations out there – this is merely my naive understanding.

    • Photo: Philippa Bird

      Philippa Bird answered on 25 Jun 2012:

      You need to damage DNA in the same cell at least two times before you get cancer, but more like 5 times. The damage waits there through your life until there have been enough “hits” on that cell to cause cancer – that’s why older people are more likely to get cancer. And why you don’t immediately get it when you get sunburnt!

    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 25 Jun 2012:

      According to their profiles, Pippa or Mike are the experts here.

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