You may have a seen a number of headlines earlier this month with variations on this theme: “New Study: Most Cancers Due to Bad Luck.” The headlines were spurred by a study in the Journal Science, published on January 2nd. Even accounting for the oversimplification that often occurs when scientific articles are reported in the press, the conclusion seemed glaringly contrary to the generally accepted scientific view. Now the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) – the specialized cancer agency for the World Health Organization- has issued a rebuttal of the study, pointing to numerous flaws. IARC is considered a fairly conservative organization by many public health scientists so the strength of their statement has special resonance. It’s substantive, but also accessible and short and therefore worth a quick read.
Check out International Agency for Research on Cancer’s response here.