Lifetime cancer prevalence and life history traits in mammals.
Amy M BoddyLisa M AbegglenAllan P PessierAthena AktipisJoshua D SchiffmanCarlo C MaleyCarmel WittePublished in: Evolution, medicine, and public health (2020)
Why are some mammals more vulnerable to cancer than others? We test whether life history trade-offs may explain this variation in cancer risk. Bigger, longer-lived animals do not develop more cancer compared to smaller, shorter-lived animals. However, we find a positive association between litter size and cancer prevalence in mammals.