Scientists have determined that people living in cold climates or high altitudes have special survival genes.

However, as "Medoboz" learned, these same genes have a predisposition to oncological diseases at a later age, especially for breast, lung and colorectal cancer.

Analysis of the data on the study of the prevalence of cancer worldwide shows that evolutionary adaptation to environments with extreme or prolonged cold creates genetic variants that prevent suppression of tumors and increase vulnerability to almost all cancers.

"This is the first study that shows that a high risk of cancer can be the result of evolutionary adaptation to certain environmental conditions," notes Konstantinos Voskarides, Ph.D., Medical School of the University of Cyprus in Nicosia.

It is noteworthy that the results support the "long-standing hypothesis of cancer", known as antagonistic pleiotropy. In this gene-centered theory of evolution, genetic variants that predispose to the disease can be subjected to natural selection, while genes that increase the chances of survival in extreme conditions. This hypothesis was proposed as far back as 1957 by the American evolutionary biologist George K. Williams, Ph.D., who thus tried to explain the aging.

"Resistance of cells at low temperatures and at high altitude, probably increases the likelihood of malignancy," write the authors of the study. "This effect can hardly be filtered by natural selection, since most types of cancer appear later. At an age when most people have their children, "they add.

A separate analysis showed a special selection for tumor suppressor genes. This finding confirms the results of previous functional studies that show that reduced apoptosis - or programmed cell death - is useful in extremely cold and high altitude environments, but is caused by a p53 protein that is responsible for suppressing tumors.

According to the professor, most clinicians and biologists believe that a somatic mutation is all that is associated with the genetics of cancer. "But this is not true. Genetic predisposition is an important factor in the occurrence of cancer, and we need to pay more attention to this, "he continued.. "Evolutionary theory can explain the molecular mechanisms of human disease and identify unknown epidemiological phenomena," he said..

When asked whether he believes that most cancers can be associated with the antagonistic phenomenon of pleiotropy, Dr. Voskarides said: "I believe this is very possible. This is due to the fact that most types of cancer have an important genetic parameter influenced by natural selection events ".

The results of his own research show that tumor suppressor genes can play a more important role than oncogenes in cancer development and can potentially provide a new therapeutic goal.

In addition to the survey data, Voskarides and his colleagues studied data on 254 genome studies in the genome (GWAS) and 186 human populations. Focusing on the effect of low temperatures in the Arctic / Scandinavian climate or on populations at high altitude, they found that genes adapted to life in extreme cold conditions have Greenland Inuits, Siberian Eskimos and Native Americans.

The relationship between cancer and extreme cold was the strongest among Native Americans. It was found that Siberian Eskimos have a high risk of colorectal cancer and cancer of the esophagus, lungs, head and neck cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and lymphoma.

The most common BRCA1 mutation worldwide has been found in Inuit living in Greenland.

This study can also shed light on the geographical spread of cancer and help explain why cancer incidence and mortality rates are higher in some populations in specific geographical areas compared to populations living elsewhere.

"Today, there is limited information about the factors that determine this spatial distribution," they note.. "Ecological and genetic factors are equally suspected, as in multifactorial diseases, environmental variables and gene variants determine the risk to the population," says the author of the study.

Ukraine with its temperate continental climate with a tendency to gradually changing from west to east by continentality, is also in the risk zone.