A provocative new study suggests that mice raised in spacious
cages with lots of toys and companions are more resistant to
cancer than mice living in standard cages. The work, which finds
that exercise alone doesn't explain the anticancer effect, is
drawing both excitement and skepticism. The study builds on
research dating back to the 1960s, which has found that raising
mice in an "enriched environment" spurs neural growth and
learning. Recent research even suggests that a stimulating cage
environment late in life can help restore memory in animals with
neurodegenerative disease. Neuroscientists Matthew During and
Lei Cao, both of Ohio State University and Cornell University,
wondered whether these profound effects on the brain could
influence how the body responds to cancer. During's team studied
the course of cancer in two sets of young male mice—groups of
five animals housed in a standard cage (roughly the size of a
bread box) with food but nothing else, and groups of 18 to 20
mice raised in a bigger cage