Reduce Risk Factor To Lower Cancer

In dealing with cancer about 42% of the cases come down to risk factors that we can change. Ana Sandoiu published an article that was fact-checked by Jasmin Collier, giving us some information on these risk factors.

The American Cancer Society has a large new study that studied the risk factors for various types of cancer that sheds light on the proportion of cancers that could be prevented by making some necessary lifestyle changes.

The research examined 1,570,975 cancer cases, of which 587,521 resulted in death. About 26 cancer types and 17 risk factors were analyzed during the analysis. The 17 risk factors are called modifiable as we can take active measures to change them. These factors included alcohol intake, smoking, excess body weight, low content of fiber in the diet, consumption of processed red meat, low intake of fruit and veggies, ultraviolet radiation, low calcium and a lack of physical activity.

Six infections that have already been linked with cancer were included in the risk factors listed. Dr. Farhad Islami of the American Cancer Society led the research and published the findings in the journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. He and his team used not only the prevalence of the risk factors but their associated relative risk as well, which is the probability that said factors actually result in cancer.

They used data on the number of cancer cases and cancer-related deaths from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Otis W. Brawley, ACS chief medical officer was the study co-author. He said that in 1981 Doll and Peto published what has become a classic paper on the causes of cancer. Volumes of data have been published since then that have clarified the association between important risk factors and cancer.

They revealed through the study that 42% of all cancers and over 45% of all cancer deaths were attributed to modifiable risk factors. Smoking, excessive weight, and alcohol use were the top three risk factors. Around 19% of all cases and almost 29% of related deaths were attributable to cigarette smoking. Another 7.8% of cases and 6.5% of deaths were accounted for by excessive body weight. Another 5.6% of cases and 4% of deaths were due to alcohol intake. UV radiation was attributable to 4.7% of cases and 1.5% of deaths, while the lack of physical activity was 2.9% of cases and 2.2% of deaths. Some major cancers had a high portion of cases attributable to modifiable risk factors with lung cancer at the top, with 85.8% cases down to such factors, and 81.7% attributable to smoking alone. Around 70% of liver cancer cases, 55% of colorectal cancer cases and 29% of breast cases could be attributed also to modifiable risk factors. It also found that UV radiation was linked to 96% of skin melanoma cases and 60% to uterine cancers to excess body weight. Esophageal cancers were tied to smoking at 50%. Bladder cases were also associated with cigarettes at nearly 47%. Lastly, over 10% of colorectal cancers were associated with a low intake of dietary fiber.

The study authors remind the public the four key factors to keep in check are body weight, alcohol consumption, diet, and physical activity. These four factors made up nearly 14% of cancer risk in women and over 22% in men. Their findings emphasize the continued need for widespread implementation of preventive measures in the country to reduce morbidity and premature mortality from cancers associated with potentially modifiable risk factors. Being aware of these factors should be part of any comprehensive strategy for broad and equitable implementation of known interventions to accelerate progress against cancer.

Dr Fredda Branyon