Peto's Paradox: How has evolution solved the problem of cancer prevention?

Marc Tollis; Amy M. Boddy; Carlo Maley

doi:10.1186/s12915-017-0401-7

Peto's Paradox: How has evolution solved the problem of cancer prevention?

Marc Tollis, Amy M. Boddy, Carlo Maley

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review

51 Scopus citations

Abstract

The risk of developing cancer should theoretically increase with both the number of cells and the lifespan of an organism. However, gigantic animals do not get more cancer than humans, suggesting that super-human cancer suppression has evolved numerous times across the tree of life. This is the essence and promise of Peto's Paradox. We discuss what is known about Peto's Paradox and provide hints of what is yet to be discovered.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	60
Journal	BMC Biology
Volume	15
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-017-0401-7
State	Published - Jul 13 2017

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Biotechnology
Structural Biology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Physiology
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
Plant Science
Developmental Biology
Cell Biology

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title = "Peto's Paradox: How has evolution solved the problem of cancer prevention?",

abstract = "The risk of developing cancer should theoretically increase with both the number of cells and the lifespan of an organism. However, gigantic animals do not get more cancer than humans, suggesting that super-human cancer suppression has evolved numerous times across the tree of life. This is the essence and promise of Peto's Paradox. We discuss what is known about Peto's Paradox and provide hints of what is yet to be discovered.",

author = "Marc Tollis and Boddy, {Amy M.} and Carlo Maley",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported in part by NIH grants P01 CA91955, R01 CA149566, R01 CA170595, R01 CA185138, and R01 CA140657 as well as CDMRP Breast Cancer Research Program Award BC132057. The findings, opinions, and recommendations expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the universities where the research was performed or the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Maley et al.",

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N2 - The risk of developing cancer should theoretically increase with both the number of cells and the lifespan of an organism. However, gigantic animals do not get more cancer than humans, suggesting that super-human cancer suppression has evolved numerous times across the tree of life. This is the essence and promise of Peto's Paradox. We discuss what is known about Peto's Paradox and provide hints of what is yet to be discovered.

AB - The risk of developing cancer should theoretically increase with both the number of cells and the lifespan of an organism. However, gigantic animals do not get more cancer than humans, suggesting that super-human cancer suppression has evolved numerous times across the tree of life. This is the essence and promise of Peto's Paradox. We discuss what is known about Peto's Paradox and provide hints of what is yet to be discovered.

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Peto's Paradox: How has evolution solved the problem of cancer prevention?

Abstract

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