Nearly 40% of cancers can be prevented with three lifestyle changes, study says

Nearly half of cancers could be prevented by eliminating three major risk factors, a new study has revealed.

Research published this week in Nature Medicine identified that almost 40% of cancer cases in the world are related to tobacco (15% of new cases), infections (10%) and alcohol consumption (3%).

In total, 7.1 million cancer diagnoses in 2022 were related to 30 modifiable risk factors, according to the study.

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“The key here is that almost half of all cancers could be prevented through behavioral changes,” Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst at News Digital, told News Digital.

Conducted by the World Health Organization and its International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the study analyzed global cancer data in 185 countries, comparing it with exposure data for all 30 risk factors.

Cancers of the lung, stomach and cervix accounted for nearly half of the cases involving modifiable risks, many of them linked to viruses and bacteria such as human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B and C, and Helicobacter pylori (a common bacteria that infects the lining of the stomach).

“Preventable cervical and throat cancers are directly related to the HPV virus and can be prevented with the HPV vaccine,” added Siegel, who was not involved in the study.

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Lung, throat, gastrointestinal and several other cancers were linked to smoking, and alcohol was associated with breast, liver, colon and throat cancer, the doctor noted.

“Environmental factors are also key and vary by geography: 45 percent of new cancers could be prevented in men and 30 percent in women,” he said.

Study author Hanna Fink of the IARC/WHO Cancer Surveillance Division said the main message is that many cancers are preventable.

“Nearly four in 10 new cancer cases worldwide, representing 7.1 million lives that do not need to be changed by a cancer diagnosis, were related to things we can change or modify through public health awareness and action,” he told News Digital.

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“These things include smoking, infections, alcohol consumption, excess body weight, air pollution, ultraviolet radiation and others.”

Looking ahead, the researchers recommend that stronger prevention strategies targeting tobacco use, infections, unhealthy body weight and alcohol consumption could substantially reduce cancer cases worldwide.

“The key here is that almost half of all cancers could be prevented through behavioral changes.”

“The study reinforces that cancer prevention works and that action is most effective at the population level,” Fink said.

“Governments and communities play a crucial role in facilitating healthy choices, for example through higher taxes on tobacco and alcohol, smoke-free policies, clear health warnings, safer workplaces, cleaner air and affordable access to vaccination and screening. People can support this by advocating for healthier environments and using available preventive services.”

Reduce risk

The AIRC offers the following recommendations to minimize the risk of cancer.

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• Don’t smoke, and if you smoke, get help to quit.
• Keep alcohol consumption as low as possible, as “there is no safe level of alcohol for cancer risk.”
• Try to achieve a healthy body weight over time with a balanced diet and regular physical activity.
• Move more and sit less, as even small amounts of daily movement help.
• Take advantage of vaccines, especially the HPV vaccine for young people and the hepatitis B vaccine.

“As a family physician, I try to help my patients understand how important their daily habits are in reducing their future risk of cancer,” said Dr. Chris Scuderi, a Florida-based cancer survivor and family physician.

Your doctor’s key prevention goals include daily exercise, consistent, restful sleep, a Mediterranean-style diet, regular doctor visits, and sufficient rest.

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“Small daily victories add up and make a powerful difference over time,” added Scuderi, who was also not involved in the research. “It’s also essential to stay on top of your routine screenings, which your family doctor can help you with.”

Potential limitations

The study had some limitations. Researchers often used data from around 2012 because of the long lag between exposure and cancer, meaning the data may not reflect more recent behaviors or environments.

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“This is a necessary simplification, because in reality the latency can be longer or shorter depending on the cancer and the exposure,” Fink said.

Siegel noted that cancer types vary by geographic region (for example, stomach cancer is most prominent in Asia) and relationships between risk factors and cancer prevalence may differ between countries, populations, and time periods.

“We relied on the best available data on how common each risk factor is in different countries and how strongly it is linked to cancer, but these data are not perfect and are weaker in some low- and middle-income countries,” Fink said.

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Finally, the study only analyzed 30 risk factors with the strongest global evidence and data.

“Our estimate that ‘almost 40% of cancers are preventable’ is most likely conservative,” the researcher added. “Some other suspected causes, such as certain aspects of diet, could not be included because the science or data is not yet strong enough globally.”