More than a third of Americans will develop some form of cancer during their life time. Interestingly 80-90% of the cancers in the western hemisphere has been attributed to environmental factors. With cancer being the second common cause of mortality in the USA, prevention of cancer related morbidity and mortality can be accomplished by avoiding environmental pollution with carcinogens and eliminating exposure to existing carcinogenic agents in the environment. This sentiment was eloquently verbalized by Dr. David Christiani in the March 3, 2011 issue of the NEJM.
Despite the progress made in cancer treatment and Genomics, we cannot lose sight of the fact that prevention is better than cure.
