Cancer treatment: Lifestyle changes prevent deaths, show ’dramatic’ improvement; says US study

Amid the rising number of cancer cases across the world, a new study from the American Cancer Society has revealed that nearly half of deaths due to cancer in the US could be prevented with lifestyle changes. Nearly 40% of new cancer cases among adults and nearly half of deaths due to cancer could be attributed to preventable risk factors, said the research.

Most of the preventable risk factors are those that people can change with their lifestyle to reduce their risk of cancer, according to Dr Arif Kamal, chief patient officer of the American Cancer Society.

What is cancer?

According to America's National Cancer Institute, cancer is a disease in which some of the body’s cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body. The uncontrollable growth of cells can start anywhere in the body. The breakdown of the orderly process of the formation and destruction of cells in the human body causes tumours, which are lumps of tissue. Tumours can be cancerous or not cancerous.

What causes cancer?

DNA damage is one of the leading causes of cancer growth. Another reason that affects the risk of cancer is genetics or environmental factors, which can also create biological conditions. Apart from all these factors, modifiable risks contribute to a significantly larger share of cancer cases and deaths than any other known factors, reported CNN, citing the research report.

Smoking is one of the leading causes of cancer

Smoking is one of the leading risk factors causing cancer in most patients, found the research, highlighting that smoking contributes to nearly 1 in 5 cancer cases and nearly a third of cancer deaths in the US.

Other leading risk factors include obesity, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, diet and infections like HPV. The study analysed 18 modifiable risk factors across 30 types of cancer and highlighted their association with 7,00,000 new cancer cases and more than 2,62,000 deaths, said the study.

Cancer cases and their association with lifestyle change

“An estimated 40% of all cancer cases and nearly one-half of all cancer deaths in the United States in 2019 were attributable to the evaluated potentially modifiable risk factors,” read the conclusion of an article published in the American Cancer Society.

The article also suggested the implementation of preventive initiatives like excise taxes on cigarettes to reduce smoking, screening for and treating HCV infection, and vaccination against HPV infection.

The research also underlines the need to change the common perception about cancer that no one has any control on it.

“With cancer, it oftentimes feels like you have no control. People think about bad luck or bad genetics, but people need to feel a sense of control and agency,” CNN quoted Dr. Kamal.