Researchers have found that 40 percent of cancer cases and half of cancer deaths among adults in the US can be prevented. Experts stress the importance of better healthcare and preventive measures.
Each year, about 1.8 million new cancer cases are identified in the U.S., leading to around 600,000 deaths, reports the American Cancer Society. Cancer can strike anyone. However, factors like the environment and lifestyle can significantly raise the risk of acquiring the disease.
Lifestyle and environmental factors leading to cancer
New research from the American Cancer Society reveals that hundreds of thousands of cancer cases can be avoided by changing certain lifestyle and environmental factors.
The research team used national data to determine how many cancer cases and deaths are linked to alterable risk factors. These factors include smoking, secondhand smoke, being overweight, drinking alcohol, poor diet, lack of exercise, UV radiation, and infections from viruses such as HPV.
In 2019, researchers found that 713,340 cancer cases and 262,120 cancer deaths in US adults over 30 were linked to controllable risk factors and could have been avoided.
Published today @CACancerJournal: Updated info on % & no. of cancer cases/deaths attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors in the US.
~40% of cancer cases and half of cancer deaths were attributable to evaluated risk factors. @AmericanCancer pic.twitter.com/W3bxf4flmc— Farhad Islami, MD PhD (@FarhadIslami) July 11, 2024
Cigarette smoking was the biggest cause, responsible for 56 percent of preventable cancers in men and 39.9 percent in women.
“Despite considerable declines in smoking prevalence during the past few decades, the number of lung cancer deaths attributable to cigarette smoking in the United States is alarming,” said Farhad Islami, senior scientific director of cancer disparity research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the report.
Islami emphasized the need for strong tobacco control policies in every state to help people quit smoking. He also called for increased efforts to screen for lung cancer early, when treatment is more likely to work.
Obesity is the second preventable contributing factor to cancer deaths
After cigarette smoking, excess body weight was the second leading cause, contributing to 7.6 percent of preventable cancer cases.
Moreover, being overweight or obese increases the chances of getting 13 types of cancer. These cancers make up 40 percent of all cancer cases diagnosed in the United States annually, according to the CDC.
Being overweight or obese doesn’t guarantee someone will get cancer, but it does increase their risk compared to maintaining a healthy weight.
Additionally, alcohol consumption followed at 5.4 percent, and UV radiation was responsible for 4.6 percent of preventable cancers.
Certain cancers were more often caused by changeable factors. For example, just about all cases of cervical cancer could be avoided. This was also true of about 80 percent of melanoma cases and 99 percent of lung cancer incidents. In contrast, only 4.9 percent of ovarian cancer cases were influenced by these factors.
“These findings show there is a continued need to increase equitable access to preventive health care and awareness about preventive measures,” said Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice president of surveillance and health equity science at the Cancer Society and senior author of the study, in the statement.
