CureToday.com: Winter 2011 Article - "Connecting the Dots: Why It's So Hard to Pin Down Environmental Causes of Cancer"

 "Connecting the Dots: Why It's So Hard to Pin Down Environmental Causes of Cancer"

"Today, the list of possible environmental carcinogens reads like a catalog of modern conveniences, including cellphones, plastic bottles, styrene in Styrofoam, imported drywall, high-voltage power lines, light at night. Other environmental causes of cancer may be rooted in lifestyle factors, such as obesity, drinking alcohol, a fondness for suntans and smoking. Or infections with viruses and bacteria. In fact, knowing all the ways the environment can conspire to fuel cancer growth, perhaps the real wonder is how so many people can remain cancer-free for so long......

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abstract: Cancer and environment: Definitions and misconceptions - Environmental Research

Conclusions

Our findings emphasize the discrepancies in reporting environmental causation of cancer and the limits of inference in interpreting environmentally attributable risk estimates. Rather than achieving consensus on a single definition for the environment, we suggest the focus be on achieving transparency for any environmentally attributable risks.

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Highlights

► We report definitions of the environment and attributable risk estimates over time.
► Definitions were categorized and assessed in relation to risk estimates.
► Reported environmentally attributable risk estimates ranged from 1% to 100%.
► There are limits of inference in interpreting environmentally attributable risks.
► The focus should be on transparency in the derivation of attributable risk estimates.