People Who Live in Space Don't Die of Cancer
Too bad we can't all live in space. A new study has found that you're less likely to die of cancer there. That's because, for some reason, cancer cells don't grow as fast, or aggressively, there as they do here on Earth. Thyroid cancer cells, at least. These cancer cells change their behavior in space, for the better it seems, according to SmartPlanet. Why should we care if we're not going to live in space any time soon? "Understanding what inhibits cancer growth in space could help researchers develop treatments that accomplish the same thing on Earth," the Web site reports. Results of the recent study "suggest that the expression of genes indicating a high malignancy in cancer cells may be down-regulated under altered gravitational stimulation. That is, they downgrade to a less aggressive stage." Even ovarian cells, one of the deadliest cancers for women, grew much more slowly in space than they would have on the ground. So w ha...