Prevention of Cancer

Abstract

We know enough about cancer to understand that it is generally preventable. In order to bring large-scale prevention within reach, we need to know much more about what causes cancers in people. We do not know, for instance, how cigarettes cause lung cancer or what protects nine out of 10 smokers from the disease for decades. The rapid changes that have occurred in the incidence of many common cancers and the wide variation in mortality rates of specific cancers in different communities and countries are unexplained. These are many leads to be pursued.