Abstract
The evolution of multicellularity required the suppression of cancer. If every cell has some chance of becoming cancerous, large, long-lived organisms should have an increased risk of developing cancer compared with small, short-lived organisms. The lack of correlation between body size and cancer risk is known as Peto's paradox. Animals with 1000 times more cells than humans do not exhibit an increased cancer risk, suggesting that natural mechanisms can suppress cancer 1000 times more effectively than is done in human cells. Because cancer has proven difficult to cure, attention has turned to cancer prevention. In this review, similar to pharmaceutical companies mining natural products, we seek to understand how evolution has suppressed cancer to develop ultimately improved cancer prevention in humans.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 175-182 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Trends in Ecology and Evolution |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Fingerprint
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Cite this
Peto's Paradox : Evolution's prescription for cancer prevention. / Caulin, Aleah F.; Maley, Carlo.
In: Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 26, No. 4, 04.2011, p. 175-182.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Peto's Paradox
T2 - Evolution's prescription for cancer prevention
AU - Caulin, Aleah F.
AU - Maley, Carlo
PY - 2011/4
Y1 - 2011/4
N2 - The evolution of multicellularity required the suppression of cancer. If every cell has some chance of becoming cancerous, large, long-lived organisms should have an increased risk of developing cancer compared with small, short-lived organisms. The lack of correlation between body size and cancer risk is known as Peto's paradox. Animals with 1000 times more cells than humans do not exhibit an increased cancer risk, suggesting that natural mechanisms can suppress cancer 1000 times more effectively than is done in human cells. Because cancer has proven difficult to cure, attention has turned to cancer prevention. In this review, similar to pharmaceutical companies mining natural products, we seek to understand how evolution has suppressed cancer to develop ultimately improved cancer prevention in humans.
AB - The evolution of multicellularity required the suppression of cancer. If every cell has some chance of becoming cancerous, large, long-lived organisms should have an increased risk of developing cancer compared with small, short-lived organisms. The lack of correlation between body size and cancer risk is known as Peto's paradox. Animals with 1000 times more cells than humans do not exhibit an increased cancer risk, suggesting that natural mechanisms can suppress cancer 1000 times more effectively than is done in human cells. Because cancer has proven difficult to cure, attention has turned to cancer prevention. In this review, similar to pharmaceutical companies mining natural products, we seek to understand how evolution has suppressed cancer to develop ultimately improved cancer prevention in humans.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79952579323&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79952579323&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.tree.2011.01.002
DO - 10.1016/j.tree.2011.01.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 21296451
AN - SCOPUS:79952579323
VL - 26
SP - 175
EP - 182
JO - Trends in Ecology and Evolution
JF - Trends in Ecology and Evolution
SN - 0169-5347
IS - 4
ER -