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Comprehensive Preventive Medicine Exams
More Than Half of Cancers Can Be Prevented
According to New American Cancer Society Report
Despite gains, a new report finds that half of all cancers could still be
prevented through early detection and lifestyle changes.
Tobacco use, physical inactivity, obesity and poor nutrition remain the
major preventable causes of cancer and other diseases in the United
States, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS) report released
Thursday.
"We have sufficient knowledge of cancer causes and prevention that could
prevent cancer burden in the U.S. by at least half," said Vilma Cokkinides,
one of the lead authors of the report and program director of risk factor
surveillance for the ACS in Atlanta. "A healthy lifestyle coupled with
early detection and treatment is the best personal weapon each of us has
to fight this disease."
"It just reinforces the two messages: quit smoking or don't start, and get
screened [for cancer]," added Dr. Ronald Blum, director of Beth Israel
Cancer Center in New York City. "The message bears repeating."
The ACS estimates that about one-third (570,280) of cancer deaths in this
country in 2005 can be traced back to poor nutrition, lack of exercise,
overweight and obesity and other lifestyle factors. And although tobacco
use is down, the society predicts that this year smoking will still be the
underlying cause of more than 168,140 cancer deaths.
Overweight and obesity could cause as many as one in seven cancer deaths
in men and one in five such deaths in women, the report adds. Having a
high body mass index increased death rates for 11 types of cancer in men
and 12 in women, according to a 2003 report by the ACS.
American adults are getting heavier, too. In 2002, about two-thirds of
adults were overweight and almost one-third were obese. Again, much of
this can be attributed to too little physical activity and poor eating
habits. Only 23.5 percent report eating the recommended five or more
servings of fruits and vegetables each day while just 45.4 percent get the
recommended amount of exercise.
Physical activity is known to reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer
and may also help protect against endometrial and prostate cancer. People
who have a diet high in fruits and vegetables also seem to have a reduced
incidence of cancers of the mouth and pharynx, esophagus, lung, stomach,
kidney, colon and rectum, according to the ACS.
Screening is the other major way to decrease the risk of certain cancers.
While screening for different cancers has increased, it is still not at
optimal rates. Colorectal cancer screening is the most notable example.
Only 39 percent of U.S. adults over 50 get this recommended screen.
"Both cervical and colon cancer can be prevented through screening," Blum
said. "The message just doesn't get any clearer and yet the screening
rates for colon cancer are low."
Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at the Ochsner Clinic
Foundation, in Baton Rouge, agreed. "Screening tests for breast, colon,
prostate, skin and cervical are all very easily affordable and attainable
by most people," he said. "As a cancer specialist, my goal is
to try to prevent people from ever seeing me."
Brooks added that it costs about $6,000 to maintain a car for five years.
Following ACS guidelines for doctor's visits and life-saving screening
would cost about $2,500 over that amount of time, before insurance, he
said.
The next frontier in cancer prevention is to take some of the successes in
tobacco control and see if they can be replicated to combat overweight and
obesity.
"We have made a lot of progress with smoking reduction," Cokkinides said.
"We need to do the same for nutrition and physical activity so we can
impact obesity. Obesity needs the most work."
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