The Importance of Modifiable Risk Factors in Cancer Prevention
A recent study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society found that four in 10 cancer cases and about half of all cancer deaths in adults aged 30 and older in the United States may be attributed to modifiable risk factors, including cigarette smoking, excess body weight, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, diet, and infections. Cigarette smoking was by far the leading risk factor, contributing to nearly 20% of all cancer cases and 30% of all cancer deaths.
In this study, researchers utilized nationally representative data on cancer incidence, mortality, and risk factor prevalence to estimate the proportion and number of cancer cases and deaths attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors. This analysis covered overall cancer rates (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers) and 30 specific cancer types.
These risk factors included cigarette smoking (current and former smoking), secondhand smoke, excess body weight, alcohol consumption, consumption of red and processed meat, low consumption of fruits and vegetables, dietary fiber, and dietary calcium, physical inactivity, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, as well as infection with the Epstein-Barr virus, Helicobacter pylori, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human herpes virus-8 (also called Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus), human immunodeficiency virus, and human papillomavirus (HPV).
The results showed cigarette smoking had the largest population attributable fraction, or proportion of cancer cases attributable to risk factors in the population, contributing to 56.0% of all potentially preventable cancers in men and 39.9% in women. Excess body weight had the second-largest population attributable fraction (7.6%), followed by alcohol consumption (5.4%), UV radiation exposure (4.6%), and physical inactivity (3.1%).
By cancer type, the proportion of cases caused by potentially modifiable risk factors ranged from 100% for cervical cancer and Kaposi sarcoma to 4.9% for ovarian cancer, and it exceeded 50% for 19 of 30 evaluated cancer types.
The work of Oncology Data Specialists and the analysis of cancer registry data contributed to these findings' importance.
