Approximation of the age distribution of cancer incidence using a mutational model

Abstract

The approximation of the age distributions of cancers was carried out using a complex mutational model presented in our work [1]. Datasets from the American National Cancer Institute (SEER program) were used. We approximated the datasets for the age distributions of lung, stomach, colon and breast cancer in women; cancer of the lung, stomach, colon and prostate in men. The average number of mutations (required for cancer formation) averaged over the four types of cancer is 5 mutations per cell in women and in men. The average (over the four types of cancer) mutation rate is estimated as 1.0 {middle dot} 10 -1 mutations per year per cell for women and 3.8 {middle dot} 10 -1 mutations per year per cell for men. This article is a continuation of work [1].