Peto's Paradox: Evolution's prescription for cancer prevention

Aleah F. Caulin; Carlo C. Maley

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2011.01.002

Peto's Paradox: Evolution's prescription for cancer prevention

Aleah F. Caulin, Carlo C. Maley

Biodesign: Biocomputing, Security and Society, Center for (BSS)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article

162 Scopus citations

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	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.01.002
State	Published - Apr 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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10.1016/j.tree.2011.01.002

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Caulin, A. F., & Maley, C. C. (2011). Peto's Paradox: Evolution's prescription for cancer prevention. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 26(4), 175-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.01.002

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