Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jun 10.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer Res. 2011 May 24;71(11):3739–3744. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-11-0342

Figure 1. Natural selection can explain cancer incidence at the organismal level.

Figure 1

There is minimal selection against cancer beyond the age where most animals would already be dead by other causes. The curves depicted should not be viewed as quantitative, but as “ballpark” estimates. For example, for some species, the loss of individuals before sexual maturity is much greater.