{"id":32948,"date":"2021-04-19T14:32:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T18:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=32948"},"modified":"2021-04-23T14:18:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T18:18:22","slug":"what-causes-cancer-cells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/","title":{"rendered":"What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural &#038; Unnatural Links"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What causes cancer cells? Why has the rate of cancer increased in the past century? How is mensuration linked to cancer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What causes cancer cells is that with each division of a cell, mutations in genes are introduced. Cancer can be considered a noncommunicable parasite that appropriates resources for its own gain at the expense of the host. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading for more information about why people get cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Causes Cancer?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Cancer arises when normal mechanisms for cell growth go awry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The human body has 10 trillion cells, many of them replenishing themselves. What causes cancer cells is that with each division of a cell, mutations in genes are introduced. Given all this activity, it\u2019s really a wonder that we\u2019re typically protected against cancers for decades at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cells have a number of mechanisms to prevent cancers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>They repair DNA mutations.<\/li><li>Tumor suppressor genes inhibit cell growth when they detect problems with the cell.<\/li><li>For cell replication to proceed, multiple checkpoints need to be active. If any one is defective, perhaps because of mutation, replication stops.<\/li><li>Mechanisms internal to the cell detect a cancerous state and induce apoptosis, or cell death. (The p53 pathway is an example.)<\/li><li>Immune cells recognize the target cell is cancerous from the outside, and they trigger apoptosis or inhibit growth in the cancerous cell.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The relationship between cancer and host operates in some ways like that between virus and host. Cancer can be considered a parasite that appropriates resources for its own gain at the expense of the host. But there\u2019s one big difference between virus and cancer\u2014the cancer is noncommunicable and thus dies with the host.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Modern Times and Cancer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Why have cancer rates increased over the past centuries?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>As we previously discussed, our bodies didn\u2019t evolve to keep us alive for 80 years, so the normal protective measures may senesce with age. As our average lifespan increased, we also gave more time for cancer to develop.<\/li><li>We\u2019re also exposed to certain carcinogens that didn\u2019t previously exist (tobacco, meat cooking, plastics, and ionizing radiation).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Menstruation and Cancer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There is one clear linkage between the modern environment and cancer in women: <strong>more menstrual cycles means more cancer in female organs<\/strong> (breast, ovaries, and uterus).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Compared to modern women, Stone Age women experienced fewer menstrual cycles for a few reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>They had later menarche or first periods (say, at 15 years old) and earlier menopause (around 47 years old). This was in response to scarce resources and plentiful infections.&nbsp;<\/li><li>They had more children, and breastfeeding meant many fewer menstrual cycles.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Today\u2019s environment promotes an early menarche and late menopause. Furthermore, women have fewer children, and they breastfeed less. All of this cause modern women to have 2-3x the number of menstrual cycles of Stone Age women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The underlying mechanism could be that the hormonal responses promoting reproduction cause increased vulnerability to some cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Optimistically, this also provides an angle of attack for finding a way to simulate Stone Age menstruation patterns to reduce cancer risk. For example, blocking menstruation through long-term hormonal birth control might decrease the rate of cancer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What causes cancer cells? Why has the rate of cancer increased in the past century? How is mensuration linked to cancer? What causes cancer cells is that with each division of a cell, mutations in genes are introduced. Cancer can be considered a noncommunicable parasite that appropriates resources for its own gain at the expense of the host. Keep reading for more information about why people get cancer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":32978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,160],"tags":[265],"class_list":["post-32948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-science","tag-why-we-get-sick","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural &amp; Unnatural Links - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What causes cancer cells? Find out the many causes, including cell mutations, exposure to certain carcinogens, and prolonged menstruation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural &amp; Unnatural Links\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What causes cancer cells? Find out the many causes, including cell mutations, exposure to certain carcinogens, and prolonged menstruation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-19T18:32:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-23T18:18:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chemo-bottles.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1118\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"641\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\"},\"headline\":\"What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural &#038; Unnatural Links\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-19T18:32:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-23T18:18:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/\"},\"wordCount\":528,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chemo-bottles.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Why We Get Sick\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Health\",\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/\",\"name\":\"What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural & Unnatural Links - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chemo-bottles.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-19T18:32:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-23T18:18:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"What causes cancer cells? Find out the many causes, including cell mutations, exposure to certain carcinogens, and prolonged menstruation.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chemo-bottles.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chemo-bottles.jpg\",\"width\":1118,\"height\":641},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural &#038; Unnatural Links\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\",\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hannah Aster\"},\"description\":\"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing\"],\"jobTitle\":\"SEO Team Lead\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural & Unnatural Links - Shortform Books","description":"What causes cancer cells? Find out the many causes, including cell mutations, exposure to certain carcinogens, and prolonged menstruation.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural & Unnatural Links","og_description":"What causes cancer cells? Find out the many causes, including cell mutations, exposure to certain carcinogens, and prolonged menstruation.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-04-19T18:32:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-04-23T18:18:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1118,"height":641,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chemo-bottles.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hannah Aster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hannah Aster","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/"},"author":{"name":"Hannah Aster","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f"},"headline":"What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural &#038; Unnatural Links","datePublished":"2021-04-19T18:32:34+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-23T18:18:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/"},"wordCount":528,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chemo-bottles.jpg","keywords":["Why We Get Sick"],"articleSection":["Health","Science"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/","name":"What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural & Unnatural Links - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chemo-bottles.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-19T18:32:34+00:00","dateModified":"2021-04-23T18:18:22+00:00","description":"What causes cancer cells? Find out the many causes, including cell mutations, exposure to certain carcinogens, and prolonged menstruation.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chemo-bottles.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chemo-bottles.jpg","width":1118,"height":641},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-causes-cancer-cells\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Causes Cancer Cells? Natural &#038; Unnatural Links"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f","name":"Hannah Aster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0302cb2690b70a21639bc6873e587f42d39d02385b7e59d8efd0d3e000ae7681?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hannah Aster"},"description":"Hannah is a seasoned writer and editor who started her journey with Shortform nearly five years ago. She grew up reading mostly fiction books but transitioned to non-fiction writing when she started her travel website in 2018. When she's not writing or traveling, you can find Hannah working on home reno projects, crafting, or taking care of plants.","knowsAbout":["Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and minors in professional and creative writing"],"jobTitle":"SEO Team Lead","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/hannah\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/chemo-bottles.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32948"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33030,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32948\/revisions\/33030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}