Factors That May Increase Vulnerability to Cancer and Longevity in Modern Human Populations

Svetlana V. Ukraintseva (), Konstantin G. Arbeev (), Igor Akushevich (), Alexander M. Kulminski (), Eric Stallard () and Anatoliy I. Yashin ()
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Svetlana V. Ukraintseva: Duke Population Research Institute & Social Science Research Institute at Duke University, Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging
Konstantin G. Arbeev: Duke Population Research Institute & Social Science Research Institute at Duke University, Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging
Igor Akushevich: Duke Population Research Institute & Social Science Research Institute at Duke University, Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging
Alexander M. Kulminski: Duke Population Research Institute & Social Science Research Institute at Duke University, Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging
Eric Stallard: Duke Population Research Institute & Social Science Research Institute at Duke University, Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging
Anatoliy I. Yashin: Duke Population Research Institute & Social Science Research Institute at Duke University, Biodemography of Aging Research Unit, Center for Population Health and Aging

Chapter Chapter 5 in Biodemography of Aging, 2016, pp 113-141 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Cancer incidence rates for all disease sites combined and life expectancy have increased over time in many countries around the world. These increases were concurrent with economic progress and the spread of the Western lifestyle. Overall cancer risk and longevity are currently higher in more than in less developed regions of the world. What caused this global increase in cancer risk, beyond known carcinogenic exposures? Could life in affluent societies make people more susceptible to cancer? And could the increases in cancer risk and longevity be favored by the same factors linked to economic prosperity and the related lifestyle? In this chapter, we address these important questions. We discuss the global epidemiological evidence and results of human and animal studies to show that the higher overall cancer risk in the more developed world might be a result of a higher proportion of individuals more susceptible to cancer, rather than merely the result of a higher carcinogenic burden in respective populations. This proportion could increase over time under the influence of several factors linked to economic development and the Western lifestyle, including improved medical and living conditions that allow for survival of people with less efficient immune systems and some novel exposures that are not carcinogenic themselves but may increase one’s vulnerability to established carcinogens. Some factors associated with the Western lifestyle (e.g., food enriched with growth factors and delayed childbirth) may favor both longevity and vulnerability to cancer. This suggests that trade-offs between cancer and aging may potentially contribute to concurrent increases in longevity and cancer risks in modern human populations.

Keywords: Cancer Risk; Stomach Cancer; Economic Prosperity; Economic Progress; Cancer Incidence Rate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-7587-8_5

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