Michael Thun

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Michael J. Thun is an American cancer researcher and emeritus vice president of epidemiological research at the American Cancer Society (ACS). [1]

Contents

Education

Thun served in the United States Army for 3 years as a medic. Upon completion of military service, Thun received his bachelor's degree from Harvard College in 1970, his MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1975, and his master's degree in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health in 1983. [1]

Career

After receiving his masters', Thun worked for the New Jersey Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control until 1989, when he joined the ACS as their director of analytic epidemiology. [2] He was appointed vice president of epidemiology and surveillance research there in 1998, and held that position until he retired at the end of 2012. [1]

Research

Thun is known for his research into the health effects of tobacco, [3] [4] as well as for a number of studies he has published on the association between aspirin use and cancer risk. [5] [6] He has also published studies on other putative risk factors for cancer, such as red meat consumption [7] and certain hair dyes. [8]

Views

Thun has advised people to limit their red meat consumption due to the adverse health affects associated with it. [9] He has criticized the President’s Cancer Panel's 2010 report for arguing that the proportion of cancer cases caused by environmental factors has been "grossly underestimated." [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gutka</span> Tobacco preparation chewed in South Asia

Gutka, ghutka, guṭkha or betel quid is a chewing tobacco preparation made of crushed areca nut, tobacco, catechu, paraffin wax, slaked lime and sweet or savory flavourings, in India, Pakistan, other Asian countries, and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hair coloring</span> Practice of changing the hair color

Hair coloring, or hair dyeing, is the practice of changing the hair color. The main reasons for this are cosmetic: to cover gray or white hair, to alter hair to create a specific look, to change a colour to suit preference or to restore the original hair color after it has been discolored by hairdressing processes or sun bleaching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passive smoking</span> Inhalation of tobacco smoke by persons other than the intended active smoker

Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, called secondhand smoke (SHS), or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by persons other than the intended "active" smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke enters an environment, causing its inhalation by people within that environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes disease, disability, and death. The health risks of secondhand smoke are a matter of scientific consensus. These risks have been a major motivation for smoke-free laws in workplaces and indoor public places, including restaurants, bars and night clubs, as well as some open public spaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red meat</span> Types of meat such as beef, goat, pork, or lamb with higher myoglobin content

In gastronomy, red meat is commonly red when raw, in contrast to white meat, which is pale in color before cooking. In culinary terms, only flesh from mammals or fowl is classified as red or white. In nutritional science, red meat is defined as any meat that has more of the protein myoglobin than white meat. White meat is defined as non-dark meat from fish or chicken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Processed meat</span> Type of meat

Processed meat is considered to be any meat which has been modified in order to either improve its taste or to extend its shelf life. Methods of meat processing include salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, and/or the addition of chemical preservatives. Processed meat is usually composed of pork or beef, but also poultry, while it can also contain offal or meat by-products such as blood. Processed meat products include bacon, ham, sausages, salami, corned beef, jerky, hot dogs, lunch meat, canned meat, chicken nuggets, and meat-based sauces. Meat processing includes all the processes that change fresh meat with the exception of simple mechanical processes such as cutting, grinding or mixing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Agency for Research on Cancer</span> Intergovernmental agency

The International Agency for Research on Cancer is an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization of the United Nations. Its role is to conduct and coordinate research into the causes of cancer. It also collects and publishes surveillance data regarding the occurrence of cancer worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol and cancer</span> Relationship between cancer and the consumption of alcohol

Alcohol causes cancers of the oesophagus, liver, breast, colon, oral cavity, rectum, pharynx and laryngeal cancers, and probably causes cancers of the pancreas. Consumption of alcohol in any quantity can cause cancer. The more alcohol is consumed, the higher the cancer risk, and no amount can be considered safe. Alcoholic beverages were classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health effects of tobacco</span> Circumstances, mechanisms, and factors of tobacco consumption on human health

Tobacco products, especially when smoked or used orally, have negative effects on human health, and concerns about these effects have existed for a long time. Research has focused primarily on cigarette smoking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DNA adduct</span> Segment of DNA bound to a cancer-causing chemical

In molecular genetics, a DNA adduct is a segment of DNA bound to a cancer-causing chemical. This process could lead to the development of cancerous cells, or carcinogenesis. DNA adducts in scientific experiments are used as biomarkers of exposure. They are especially useful in quantifying an organism's exposure to a carcinogen. The presence of such an adduct indicates prior exposure to a potential carcinogen, but it does not necessarily indicate the presence of cancer in the subject animal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diet and cancer</span> Connections between dietary habits and cancer

Dietary factors are recognized as having a significant effect on the risk of cancers, with different dietary elements both increasing and reducing risk. Diet and obesity may be related to up to 30–35% of cancer deaths, while physical inactivity appears to be related to 7% risk of cancer occurrence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph W. Cullen</span> American cancer researcher

Joseph W. Cullen was an American cancer prevention and rehabilitation researcher and briefly director of the AMC Cancer Research Center (1989-1990). He previously worked at the VA Hospital in Maryland (1968-1973), the National Institutes of Health (1973), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (1976-1982), holding high-level positions such as division director at several. He was a coordinator, creator, and researcher for the Smoking Tobacco and Cancer Program at the NCI, the largest anti-smoking campaign in the world at that time. Cullen wrote more than 90 publications in his lifetime, including four books.

Salim Yusuf is an Indian-born Canadian physician, the Marion W. Burke Chair in Cardiovascular Disease at McMaster University Medical School. He is a cardiologist and epidemiologist.

Cancer prevention is the practice of taking active measures to decrease the incidence of cancer and mortality. The practice of prevention is dependent upon both individual efforts to improve lifestyle and seek preventive screening, and socioeconomic or public policy related to cancer prevention. Globalized cancer prevention is regarded as a critical objective due to its applicability to large populations, reducing long term effects of cancer by promoting proactive health practices and behaviors, and its perceived cost-effectiveness and viability for all socioeconomic classes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dimitrios Trichopoulos</span>

Dimitrios Trichopoulos, was a Mediterranean Diet expert and tobacco harms researcher. He was Vincent L. Gregory Professor of Cancer Prevention and Professor of Epidemiology, and a past chair of the Department of Epidemiology, in the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

Geoffrey C. Kabat is an American epidemiologist, cancer researcher, and author. He has been on the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and State University of New York, Stony Brook. He is mainly known for the discredited BMJ study funded by the tobacco industry, that failed to find an association between secondhand smoke and health problems. He has consistently disputed the health risks of second-hand smoke by casting doubt on the scientific consensus that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer, which is estimated to cause about 21400 deaths per year worldwide.

Eugenia E. “Jeanne” Calle (1952–2009) was an American cancer epidemiologist.

James Eugene Enstrom is an American epidemiologist who has worked at the University of California, Los Angeles since 1976, where he is currently a retired researcher.

Takeshi Hirayama was a Japanese cancer epidemiologist and anti-tobacco activist who served as the chief of the epidemiology division at the National Cancer Center in Tokyo from 1965 until 1985. He has been credited with publishing the first study linking passive smoking to lung cancer, and also conducted research on the relationship between certain dietary factors and cancer.

Xifeng Wu is a Chinese-American cancer epidemiologist known for her cohort studies designed to discover the causes of cancer. She has been Dean of the School of Public Health of Zhejiang University since March 2019. She previously served as Director of the Center for Public Health and Translational Genomics and the Betty B. Marcus Chair in Cancer Prevention at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center until she was forced to resign in January 2019, as part of the Trump administration's push to counter Chinese influence in American research according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

A. Heather Eliassen is an American public health researcher who is a Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research considers the epidemiology of breast cancer and the identification of modifiable risk factors to reduce breast cancer risk.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Michael Thun to Retire from American Cancer Society". ACS. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  2. "ACS's Michael J. Thun on Cancer: Progress, but a Long Way to Go". Science Watch. Thomson Reuters. August 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  3. Vastag, Brian (23 January 2013). "Quitting smoking by age 40 erases most of the risk of an early death". Washington Post. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  4. WebMD (15 February 2007). "Switching to Smokeless Tobacco No Cure". CBS News. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  5. "Study Suggests Aspirin May Inhibit Some Cancers". New York Times. 21 March 1993. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  6. Joelving, Frederik (10 August 2012). "Can daily aspirin help ward off cancer?". Reuters. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  7. Pearson, Helen (10 January 2005). "Red meat is strongly linked to cancer". Nature News. doi:10.1038/news050110-7.
  8. Cox News Service (2 February 1994). "Report: Hair Dye Does Not Increase Risk Of Fatal Cancer". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  9. Neighmond, Patti (24 March 2009). "Study Links Red Meat To Cancer, Heart Disease". NPR. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  10. Grady, Denise (6 May 2010). "U.S. Panel Criticized as Overstating Cancer Risks". New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2015.