40% of U.S. cancer cases tied to risky behavior: Study

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Cancer doesn’t discriminate, but a new study reiterates that prevention is sometimes possible.

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Smoking is to blame for 20% of U.S. cancer cases and about 30% of cancer deaths, the American Cancer Society (ACS) warns in new research. The study also pointed out that four in 10 cancer cases and almost half of cancer deaths in American adults 30 or older may have been prevented with a lifestyle change such as smoking or losing weight.

Dr. Farhad Islami wrote the report and said he was “alarmed” that more than 169,800 Americans died in 2019 from smoking, according to the New York Post.

The doctor is calling for tobacco control policies in each state and more screening for early detection of lung cancer.

The ACS senior scientific director of cancer disparity research noted increases in certain obesity-related cancers, particularly among young people, and urged “interventions” to promote healthy body weights.

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In the U.S., 1.78 million cancer cases and 595,700 cancer deaths were recorded in 2019 among Americans 30 and older.

Research centred on 30 types of cancer to estimate how many cases and deaths were due to risky behaviour, including tobacco and alcohol use, obesity, red meat consumption and physical inactivity as well as UV exposure and other factors.

They found that 713,300 cases and 262,100 deaths in 2019 could have been prevented.

Smoking was unsurprisingly responsible for the largest proportion, contributing to 56% of cancers in men, 39.9% in women and 19.3% of all cases.

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Excess body weight was responsible for the second-largest proportion (7.6%), followed by booze (5.4%), UV radiation (4.6%) and physical inactivity (3.1%)

Preventable forms of the disease include cervical (via HPV vaccines), more than 80% of skin melanomas, anus, lung, colorectal and bladder cancers.

The ACS findings were published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, on the heels of a June report from the American Heart Association that warned that six in 10 American adults are expected to have some type of heart disease within the next 30 years due to increases in high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.

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