Cancer Is Not Linked to Bad Luck

Although getting cancer is not something someone is expecting and having such a disease is a tragic event, cancer is not linked to bad luck only.

• Cancer might be caused by external factors such as UV radiation or smoking
• “Bad luck” in cancer refers to the gene mutations we cannot control
• Leading a healthier life may reduce the risk of cancer developing

When something good happens to us, although we might associate it with good luck, we also see it as a personal accomplishment. When something bad happens to us we tend to blame fate for it or bad luck and we also complain about life not being fair and wonder why this is happening to us.

This means we basically refuse to take responsibility for whatever it is that we did to get into that situation. Of course there are both positive and negative things in life that happen to us without us having to do anything with them, but that’s usually rare.

When it comes to cancer, we usually connect it to fate as so far there are too few known causes for this type of disease. Of course, you could develop cancer if you smoke, for example, but what could be the cause for, let’s say, breast cancer, other than pure bad luck?

According to the newest research, bad luck is the least important factor in developing tumors. Factors such as lifestyle choices and environmental exposures can affect your body and account for gene mutations that create cancer tumors.

This ‘bad luck’ we’re talking about is referring to something we have no control over, which is our DNA and the cellular processes in our body. However, despite the fact that gene mutations could create tumors, there are many other external factors which may contribute to cancer development. Luckily, we can, at a length, control these external factors.

Some of these external factors are exposure to ultraviolet radiation, which can most often lead to skin cancer; smoking, which can lead to lung cancer and also obesity or viruses can be seen as factors of extrinsic mutations. Cancers that are most likely to be caused by external factors are: thyroid, lung and myeloma as well as colorectal, uterine and bladder cancers.

Of course, trying to lead a healthier life does not necessarily mean you will never get cancer, as intrinsic mutations can still take place. However, you might reduce the risk by cutting off the external factors which have been proven to play a part in gene mutations that create cancerous tumors.

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