Science has verified something you might have intuitively known already. A large proportion of cancer cases and deaths among U.S. individuals who are white might be prevented if people quit smoking, avoided heavy drinking, maintained a BMI between 18.5 and 27.5, and got moderate weekly exercise for at least 150 minutes or vigorous exercise for at least 75 minutes, according to a new study published online by JAMA Oncology.
The large study including 89,571 women and 46,399 men was conducted by Mingyang Song of Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, and Edward Giovannucci of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, Boston.
Two study groups of white individuals were taken as study subjects: one with a low risk and the other, high risk. Healthy lifestyle was defined as never or past smoking; no or moderate drinking of alcohol (one or less drink a day for women, two or less drinks a day for men); BMI of at least 18.5 but lower than 27.5; and weekly aerobic physical activity of at least 150 minutes moderate intensity or 75 minutes vigorous intensity. Those who met all 4 criteria were considered low risk and the others high risk.
They calculated the risk in both groups and concluded that 20-40% of cancer cases and 50% of cancer deaths could be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle.
“These findings reinforce the predominate importance of lifestyle factors in determining cancer risk. Therefore, primary prevention should remain a priority for cancer control,” the authors conclude.
Journal References
1. Song M, Giovannucci E. Preventable incidence and mortality of carcinoma associated with lifestyle factors among whites in the United States. JAMA Oncol. 2016;2(9):1154-1161. DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2016.0843
2. Colditz GA, Sutcliffe S. The Preventability of Cancer: Stacking the Deck. JAMA Oncol. 2016;2(9):1131-1133. DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2016.0889
