HOW TO PREVENT CANCERS

Australian population growth projection leads to increasing burden of cancer for health services and for the community. The continuing growth through births and migration lead to projections that the Australian population will substantially increase in size and in age over the next 50 years. By 2056 5% percent or more of the population will be aged 85 or older compared to only 1.6 percent in 2007. Because the risk of cancer increases with age a larger number of older Australians will result in more cases of cancer diagnosed each year, even if the risk at a given age holds steady. Therefore, efforts to reduce risk and prevent cancer must be an even higher priority to avoid this burden on society and the pain and suffering for individuals.

3222.0 - Population Projections, Australia, 2006 to 2101

Our letter to the editor (which did not run): 

To the Editor:

Re: Medicine to Deter Some Cancers Not Taken (front page, Nov 13)

It’s well established that healthy lifestyle choices can prevent cancer.  To say otherwise is a great disservice.

A recent report by the American Institute for Cancer Research concluded that maintaining a healthy weight could alone help prevent 100,000 cases of cancer each year in the United States.   Add to this the lower risk associated with physical activity, healthy diet, and not smoking, and the numbers become even more impressive. 

Certain high-risk groups could clearly benefit from chemoprevention with drugs like tamoxifen, raloxifene, and aspirin, and physicians should encourage these drugs with their appropriate patients, while being clear about the risks and benefits. 

But to emphasize chemoprevention medications over lifestyle is misdirected.  Guidelines recommend such drugs for only a small percentage of people, whereas lifestyle choices can benefit the entire population, reducing risk not only for cancer but also for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and osteoporosis.  

Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH
Niess-Gain Professor of Surgery, Professor of Medicine, and
Associate Director Prevention and Control, Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center,
Deputy Director, Institute for Public Health
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO

For more, see our Knol on Cancer Prevention.

In the news last month were details of a large Harvard-based randomized clinical trial that will be testing the potential of vitamin D and fish oil supplements to prevent cancer and heart disease (study site). Called the VITAL study -- from the somewhat forced “VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL” – the study plans to recruit 20,000 older men and women beginning January 2010 to be in one of four study groups. One group will take both a vitamin D supplement (2,000 IU) and an omega-3 supplement (1g) each day. One group will take placebos of both each day. And the other two groups will take a combination of supplements and placebos.

Vitamin D has certainly been in the news a great deal over the last couple of years for its possible disease prevention qualities. And while the evidence for benefit has been compelling, most of it has come from observational studies. The VITAL study, and other similar planned trials, should help offer some more definitive information about vitamin D’s benefits, and any risks.

Vitamin D article by the prevention team in Woman & Cancer Magazine: Shedding Light on Vitamin D and Cancer by Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH and Hank Dart, SM