Strategies for Prevent Cancer

According to the World Health Organization, more than 11 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year. The World Cancer Research Foundation (WCRF) recommends that the single most important lifestyle behavior influencing the onset of cancer is diet. WCRF reports that changes in diet could prevent up to 50% of all breast cancer cases, up to 75% of stomach cancer cases, and up to 75% of colorectal cancer cases. WCRF also reports that eating healthily, plus staying physically active and maintaining a healthy weight, could cut cancer risk by 30-40%.Along with dietary considerations, other preventive measures may indeed delay the onset of cancer. According to the US National Cancer Institute, cigarette smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals including over 60 carcinogens (cancer-causing agents). Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of cancer.Dietary factors, second only to tobacco as a preventable cause of cancer, account for about 30% of all cancers in Western countries and approximately 20% in developing countries. Announcing findings in 2005 of its 20-year-long study tracking 150,000 Americans, the American Cancer Society found that men and women who ate the most amounts of red meat (as compared to those who ate more poultry, fish, and non-meats) had a 53% higher risk of distal colon cancer. Bean-Nutty to Fight Cancer. Prevent Prostate Problems. Prostate cancer is a major cause of death among men. To-date, there have been no obvious preventive strategies, however in 2005 scientists from the Northern California Cancer Center (USA) proposed that Vitamin D may cut prostate cancer risk. The researchers found that in men with certain gene variants, high sun exposure reduced prostate cancer risk by as much as 65%. Previous research has shown that the prostate uses Vitamin D, which the body manufactures from exposure to sunlight, to promote the normal growth of prostate cells and to inhibit the invasiveness and spread of prostate cancer cells to other parts of the body. The scientists propose that men may benefit by increasing Vitamin D intake from diet and supplements (whereas excessive exposure to sunlight may result with the negative effect of sun-induced skin cancer). While the Pap Smear is a test that doctors routinely conduct to check women for cervical cancer, the Pap may not find abnormal cells in the cervix until cancer already has developed. A new test, the human papilloma virus (HPV) test, detects elevated levels of the infectious pathogen that is the cause of nearly all cases of cervical cancer. If you are younger than 30, experts now recommended that you have the HPV test if your Pap Smear test is unclear. A new vaccine for cervical cancer is now available. The vaccine targets HPV types 16 and 18, thought to cause 70% of cervical cancers, and HPV types 6 and 11, associated with 90% of genital warts cases.In conclusion we cite the Report from the World Cancer Research Foundation: "The burden of preventable suffering and death from cancer throughout the world is huge. Changes in society worldwide are accelerating and are liable, if unchecked, to increase the burden of cancer, most of all in Africa, Latin America and Asia. The two most important ways to reduce cancer risk are the avoidance of cancer-causing agents, of which tobacco is by far the most lethal, but which also include biological agents, viruses and bacteria, and the habitual consumption of diets high in those foods and drinks that protect against cancer."

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