Nearly half of cancer deaths worldwide can be attributed to preventable risk factors, a new study shows. The most common risks are smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and a high body mass index.
Research published last week in The Lancet found that 44,4 percent of all cancer deaths and 42 percent of healthy years lost in 2019 could be attributed to these preventable risk factors. Jutarnji list.
"To our knowledge, this study represents the largest effort to date to determine the global cancer burden attributable to risk factors. It contributes to the growing body of evidence aimed at estimating the risk-attributable burden for specific cancers at the national, international and global levels ", wrote in the study dr. Chris Murray, director of the Institute for Health Measurement and Evaluation at the University of Washington, and his colleagues.
The deadliest cancer of the trachea, bronchi and lungs
The project collects and analyzes global data on death and disability. Murray and colleagues focused on cancer mortality and disability from 2010 to 2019 in 204 countries, examining 23 types of cancer and 34 risk factors.
The researchers found that the leading cancers in terms of risk-attributable mortality globally in 2019 were trachea, bronchial and lung cancers for both men and women.
The data also showed that risk-attributable cancer deaths are on the rise, increasing by 20,4 percent worldwide from 2010 to 2019. Globally, in 2019, the top five regions for risk-attributable death rates at risk were Central Europe, East Asia, North America, South Latin America and Western Europe.
"These findings highlight that a significant portion of the cancer burden globally has the potential to be prevented through interventions aimed at reducing exposure to known cancer risk factors, but also that a large portion of the cancer burden may not be avoidable by controlling currently estimated risk factors," the researchers wrote. .
Although tobacco use in the United States is lower than in other countries, smoking-related cancer deaths are still a major problem and disproportionately affect certain states.
A lifestyle change could save millions
In their work, they also focused on obesity and increased body mass index.
"A new study clearly outlines the importance of primary cancer prevention and the increasing number of obesity-related cancers clearly demands our attention. Behavior modification could lead to millions of lives saved, far overshadowing the impact of any drug ever approved. Furthermore, it is no secret that the use of of alcohol as well as a dramatic increase in mean BMI lead to a significant number of preventable cancer deaths," said Dr. William Dahut, who was not involved in the new study, told CNN.
Poverty is one of the risks
In an editorial published with the study in the journal The Lancet, Dr. Diana Sarfati and Jason Gurney of the Cancer Control New Zealand Agency wrote that preventable risk factors associated with cancer tend to be shaped by poverty.
"Poverty affects the environments in which people live, and these environments shape the lifestyle decisions people make. Action to prevent cancer requires concerted efforts within and outside the health sector. This action includes specific policies aimed at reducing exposure to cancer, such as the use of tobacco and alcohol and access to vaccines that prevent cancer-causing infections, including hepatitis B and HPV," wrote Sarfati and Gurney.
Bonus video:
