JAMA Supplement: Can a healthy lifestyle really prevent cancer?

According to a new study published in the international academic journal JAMA Oncology, if you can follow good living habits, including smoking cessation, avoid alcohol abuse, maintain BMI between normal 18.5 to 27.5, and be able to exercise at least 150 minutes per week. Or vigorous exercise for at least 75 minutes, a large proportion of Caucasians who have cancer or die of cancer in the United States may avoid cancer or cancer death.

In this study, the researchers analyzed two data from Caucasians to examine the relationship between "healthy lifestyles" and cancer occurrence and death. The study included a total of 89,571 women and 46,399 men, of whom 16,531 women and 11,731 men were fully compliant with healthy living habits, defined as low risk, and others were defined as high risk. The researchers calculated the risk of population attribution, a concept that can be explained by the fact that if all people live according to the healthy lifestyle of the low-risk group, the cancer patients will not have cancer. The results of the study suggest that approximately 20% to 40% of cancer cases and approximately half of cancer deaths may be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle in a low-risk group.

The authors report that their research data is only for Caucasians and does not necessarily apply to other races, but the factors they choose are proven risk factors in each race. This study once again shows that there is a very important relationship between lifestyle and cancer risk, so researchers believe that the priority of primary prevention should be higher than cancer control. Following a healthy lifestyle is a cost-effective measure that everyone can do to prevent cancer.