4 In 10 Cancer Cases Could Be 'Preventable', And 3 Factors Matter Most
New research from the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) global analysis has suggested that 37% of cancer cases worldwide are, to some degree, “preventable”.
The study, conducted with the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), looked at data from 85 countries concerning 36 cancer types.
“Preventable” cancers were higher in men (45% of cases globally) than in women (30%).
Study author and WHO Team Lead for Cancer Control, Dr André Ilbawi, said: “This is the first global analysis to show how much cancer risk comes from causes we can prevent”.
Which “modifiable factors” might affect our cancer risk?
In this study, researchers looked at the effect of 30 potentially modifiable factors on global cancer risk.
These included alcohol and tobacco use, physical activity levels, air pollution, and UV ray exposure.
Lung, stomach, and cervical cancers accounted for almost half of “preventable” cases; lung cancers were linked to smoking and air pollution, while stomach cancers were associated with Helicobacter pylori infection.
Cervical cancers were “overwhelmingly caused by human papillomavirus (HPV)”.
The study was also the first to look at “infectious causes of cancer alongside behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks,” the study’s senior author and Deputy Head of the IARC Cancer Surveillance Unit, Dr Isabelle Soerjomataram, said.
Of the 18.7 million cancer cases noted in the study (7.1 million of which were deemed possibly preventable), three potentially modifiable factors were deemed “the leading contributors to cancer burden”.
These were:
- Smoking tobacco (3.3 million)
- Infections like HPV (2.3 million)
- Alcohol use (700,000).
The WHO urged “context-specific prevention strategies”
“By examining patterns across countries and population groups, we can provide governments and individuals with more specific information to help prevent many cancer cases before they start,” said Dr André Ilbawi.
Following the study’s release, the WHO said that the results underscore the need for “context-specific prevention strategies”.
These include “strong tobacco control measures, alcohol regulation, vaccination against cancer-causing infections such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis B, improved air quality, safer workplaces, and healthier food and physical activity environments.”