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research article
Can chance cause cancer? A causal consideration
April 1, 2017
The role of randomness, environment and genetics in cancer development is debated. We approach the discussion by using the potential outcomes framework for causal inference. By briefly considering the underlying assumptions, we suggest that the antagonising views arise due to estimation of substantially different causal effects. These effects may be hard to interpret, and the results cannot be immediately compared. Indeed, it is not clear whether it is possible to define a causal effect of chance at all.
Type
research article
Authors
Publication date
2017-04-01
Published in
Volume
75
Start page
83
End page
85
Peer reviewed
REVIEWED
EPFL units
Available on Infoscience
October 15, 2020
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