# Is cancer only caused by radiation?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cancer-only-caused-by-radiation/317305>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 16, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cancer-only-caused-by-radiation/317305 "2005-08-16T19:07:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cancer-only-caused-by-radiation/317305/21 "2005-08-18T23:58:54Z")

</div>

> [@Futile Gesture](#):
>
> Guests don’t have the search facility. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Mea culpa. :smack: Realized that just as soon as I posted.

> [@](#):
>
> I didn’t know there was a minimum level of knowledge requirement before you’re allowed to ask questions on a subject.

Well then maybe there should be a minimum level of 5th grade(or minimum age for Dopers/Guests) IQ, or something of the sort.  
The OP starts with an asertion which if patently false. It then goes from bad to worse. Lazy? Of course, what else. S.A.?  
For starters there are, Google, Ask George, Dogpile, Yahoo, etc. etc.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![iamamoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b4bc9f/32.png) [@iamamoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamamoocher)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cancer-only-caused-by-radiation/317305/22 "2005-08-19T00:36:12Z")

</div>

KarlGuass:  
You confused me with your post.  
Reason #1 for cancer, you say:"  
"1. Age - as we age so do our cells, i.e. every time a cell divides its DNA gets a bit altered (lengthened). The more alterations that occur, the greater the chance of a mutation arising that can contribute to the cell becoming cancerous. Bottom line is that aging itself can lead to cancer.

I agree with what you posted, but doesn’t DNA lose some of the end of the telomeres with each division? This would make them shorter, right?

Any cite for the longer DNA?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cancer-only-caused-by-radiation/317305/23 "2005-08-19T01:11:52Z")

</div>

**iamamoocher** : You are quite right and I am quite embarrassed. I don’t know what I could have been thinking, although, five years ago, I _was_ rather stupid.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cancer-only-caused-by-radiation/317305/24 "2005-08-19T03:28:26Z")

</div>

> [@Shibumi](#):
>
> ok, back to some sherlock holmes logic “if you eliminate all but one, then that one must be right”

Also given as “… when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

> [@Shibumi](#):
>
> so now i know that you are going to be able to do this easily, prove that anything other than radiation and the “Chemicals that screw with the resistance of your cells” cause cancer

There is an invisible pink unicorn standing behind you right now. Go, on prove there isn’t. You can’t, can you!

(While you’re doing that, add some punctuation!)

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cancer-only-caused-by-radiation/317305.md?page=1)