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Show Hj Murie L. (..xlfirv Ciululi Unil l'ri-UI-iil Am. ri. mi Cancer S.cicH Why did it happen? No one knows what causes cancer, and since there are so many different forms of cancer we might suspect that there are many different ways of causing cancers. Even in the case of cigarette smoking and lung cancer, there is abundant evidence linking the two, but no one has ever isolated the specific components of cigarettes that cause specific forms of cancer. With human cancers, we're still in the stage of collecting data to see if it will tell us anything. Every day some new carcinogen hits the headlines. And so we end up with "risk factors" or situations commonly associated with certain cancers, not really knowing which elements really cause the cancers. can-cers. One real problem arising from this confusion is the tendency to blame cancer on something we consume or breathe, or touch. With any given patient, we cannot really tell whether or not that person would have developed cancer anyway. Some believe that certain people are more susceptible to cancer than are other people and no matter what these people do, they will develop cancer of one form or another. Possible defects in immune systems are the most recent suggestions. The point is this: once a person develops cancer, there is no point in blaming either the person or his habits. I've heard some say"when people get cancer, it's their own fault. Cancer is only the result of their bad habits. Suspected causes of cancer should be considered only in the light of possible prevention for large numbers of people. It is cruel to accuse a cancer patient of causing his own cancer. But this also means that suing the government for cancers that might have been caused by fallout or asbestos, etc. will continue to be on shaky ground, except where certain rare cancers can be shown to always be caused by certain elements in the environment. We expect physicians to handle each cancer patient as an individual. We should do the same. Let's avoid all the carcinogens we reasonably can but care for ourselves or those we love should cancer arise and not worry how it happened. The first Congresswoman was elected in 1917, three years before women could vote throughout the United States. |