Carcinogen Theory: How It Began and Shaped Cancer Research

You have probably heard of the term carcinogen. Carcinogens cause cancer.

But how did we come to create the relationship between carcinogens and cancer?

The story goes back to London during the industrial age. Percivall Pott sought to uncover the cause of cancer in young boys.

Percivall, a surgeon, had a curious mind. He visited the workplace of the boys who were developing cancer.

In the 1900s, the Japanese would embrace this philosophy and call it Gemba.

The boys who were getting cancer were all involved in cleaning chimneys.

Chimneys had sprung up during the industrial age, as coal become available and factories, small and big, sprung up everywhere.

His search led him to create the connection between soot and cancer. The first connection ever made between a carcinogen and disease.

Today we know of a host of products that are believed to cause cancer. Alcohol, ultraviolet rays, asbestos, formaldehyde and tobacco, to name a few.

Today, we know that specific exposures can result in specific types of cancer. The brain, for example, is susceptible to gamma-radiation. The eye to the HIV virus. Your mouth to tobacco.

Exposure to these products increases but does not mean you will get cancer. A key factor is the quantum of exposure. Repeated exposure over years, increasing your risk.

Genes and your lifestyle also make a difference.

Excess weight, high blood sugar, poor sleep all seem to increase the risk for developing cancer.

There are two conflicting beliefs about how these carcinogens create cancer. The first is called the somatic mutation theory, and the second a metabolic theory.

While the commonly held view is the somatic mutation, many scientists are now pointing to metabolism as the primary cause of cancer.

The difference is not small. Chemotherapy is based on the belief that your cells are dividing in an uncontrolled fashion (somatic mutation theory) and need to be eliminated using chemotherapy.

If, instead, the cause is metabolic, our entire approach to cancer could change in the future.

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