Study Reveals Nearly Half of Adult Cancer Deaths Linked to Preventable Factors

 

 Research Finds Nearly Half of Adult Cancer Deaths Could Be Prevented with Better Health Choices

A study led by researchers from the American Cancer Society (ACS) finds four out of 10 cases of cancer and approximately half of all cancer deaths in adults 30 years of age or older in the United States (or 713,340 cases of cancer and 262,120 deaths in cancer in 2019). It could be attributed to modifiable risk factors such as smoking, excess body weight, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, diet, and infections. Smoking was by far the main risk factor and contributed to almost 20% of all cases of cancer and 30% of all cancer deaths. The findings are published in CA magazine, A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

"Despite the considerable decreases in the prevalence of smoking during the last decades, the number of deaths from lung cancer attributable to smoking in the United States is alarming," said Dr. Farhad Isami, main scientific director of research on cancer disparity in American cancer society and main author of the report. "This finding underlines the importance of implementing comprehensive tobacco control policies in each state to promote the abandonment of smoking habits as well as greater efforts to increase early detection tests of lung cancer when treatment could be more effective." Interventions to help maintain a healthy body weight and diet can also substantially reduce the number of cancer cases and deaths in the country, especially given the growing incidence of various types of cancer associated with excess body weight, particularly in younger people." In this study, researchers used representative data at the national level on the incidence and mortality of cancer and the prevalence of risk factors to estimate the proportion and number of cases of cancer and deaths attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors in general (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers) and for 30 types of cancer.

Study Uncovers Disturbing Link: Half of Adult Cancer Deaths Potentially Preventable

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# These risk factors included smoking (current and previous smoking); second-hand smoke; excess body weight; alcohol consumption; consumption of red and processed meats; low consumption of fruits and vegetables, dietary fiber, and dietary calcium; physical inactivity; ultraviolet radiation (UV); and infection by the Epstein-Barr virus (Veb), Helicobacter pylori, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human herpes virus-8 (VHH-8; also called herpesvirus sarcoma herpesvirus of Kaposi), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)., and the human papillomavirus (HPV).

# The results showed that smoking cigarettes had the greatest fraction attributable to the population (PAF) or proportion of cases of cancer attributable to risk factors in the population (344,070 cases; 19.3% of all cases), contributing to 56.0% of all potentially preventable cancers in men (206,550 of 368,600) and 39.9% in women (137,520 of 344,740). # Excess body weight had the second largest FAP (7.6%), followed by alcohol consumption (5.4%), exposure to UV radiation (4.6%), and physical inactivity (3.1%). By type of cancer, the proportion of cases caused by potentially modifiable risk factors ranged between 100% for cervical cancer and kaposi sarcoma and 4.9% for ovarian cancer and exceeded 50% in 19 of the 30 types of cancer evaluated. In addition to cervical cancer and kaposi sarcoma, more than 80% of all skin melanomas (92.2%) and anus cancers (94.2%), larynx (89.9%), lung and bronchi (lung; 88.2%), pharynx (87.4%), trachea (85.6%), esophagus (85.4%), and oral cavity (83.7%) were attributable to the risk factors evaluated. Lung cancer had the greatest number of cases attributable to risk factors evaluated both in men (104,410 cases) and in women (97,250), followed by leather melanoma (50,570), colorectal cancer (44,310), and urinary bladder cancer (32,000) in men and women. For breast cancer (83,840), body of uterus (35,790), and colorectal (34,130) in women.

 # "These findings show that there is a continuous need to increase equitable access to preventive medical care and awareness of preventive measures. There are effective vaccines available for the hepatitis B virus, which causes liver cancer, and HPV, which can cause various types of cancer, including cervical and others." Vaccination at the recommended moment can substantially reduce the risk of chronic infection and, consequently, of cancers associated with these viruses.

The acceptance of HPV vaccination in the United States is suboptimal." Other ACS authors who participated in this study include Dr. Emily Marlow, Dr. Marjorie McCullough, and Dr. Alpa Patel.