Johnie Rose, MD, PhD, Director of Case CCC's Population Cancer Analytics Shared Resource, contributed to an article in the online publication, Medium. His sobering information about the factors that determine who gets cancer and who doesn’t has more to do with humans than one might think.
He said, “The environments where we live, the occupational hazards to which we’re exposed, and our risky habits are closely tied to socioeconomic status.”
Is there a way to reverse this trend individually or as a collective?
According to researchers in the article, there are behavioral changes individuals can make to reduce the risk of cancer such as smoking cessation, exercise, and reducing alcohol consumption. Collectively, laws such as the Clean Air Act of 1963 and government regulations on tobacco packaging have played important roles as well. In fact, between 1991 and 2021, the overall cancer death rate fell by 33%, thanks in large part to improved screening, treatments, and other interventions.
Yet the authors liken this to the "Rule of Whac-A-Mole" which dictates that "...each time humanity rids ourselves of one toxic behavior or trait, we take on another."