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Peto’s Paradox: how has evolution solved the problem of cancer prevention?

Marc Tollis, Amy M. Boddy, Carlo C. Maley

BMC Biology · 2017 · ▲ 143 citations

Stem-cell exhaustion Human

Abstract

The risk of developing cancer should theoretically increase with both the number of cells and the lifespan of an organism. However, gigantic animals do not get more cancer than humans, suggesting that super-human cancer suppression has evolved numerous times across the tree of life. This is the essence and promise of Peto's Paradox. We discuss what is known about Peto's Paradox and provide hints of what is yet to be discovered.

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Provenance

Source: OpenAlex
DOI: 10.1186/s12915-017-0401-7
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Fetched: 2026-07-07 MST

Cite this

APA

Tollis, M., Boddy, A.M., & Maley, C.C. (2017). Peto’s Paradox: how has evolution solved the problem of cancer prevention?. <em>BMC Biology</em>. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-017-0401-7

Vancouver

Tollis M, Boddy AM, Maley CC. Peto’s Paradox: how has evolution solved the problem of cancer prevention?. BMC Biology. 2017. doi:10.1186/s12915-017-0401-7.

BibTeX

@article{marc2017PetosP, title = {Peto’s Paradox: how has evolution solved the problem of cancer prevention?}, author = {Marc Tollis and Amy M. Boddy and Carlo C. Maley}, journal = {BMC Biology}, year = {2017}, doi = {10.1186/s12915-017-0401-7}, }