Mutation selection and the natural history of cancer

Survival of the rapidly renewing tissues of long-lived animals like man requires that they be protected against the natural selection of fitter variant cells (that is, the spontaneous appearance of cancer). This article discusses three possible protective mechanisms and shows how they could explain various features of the natural history of certain common cancers of man. Reproduced by permission. J. Cairns, Mutation selection and the natural history of cancer. Nature 255 , 197-200 (1975).