Medscape.com:
Stopping people from smoking tobacco is the number one priority, according to the latest report from the American Cancer Society’s cancer control Blueprint series, but the report also emphasizes other modifiable factors, including alcohol consumption, healthy eating, and physical activity.
“So much of cancer can be prevented if you don’t smoke, drink, and keep a healthy weight,” comments lead author Susan Gapstur, PhD, MPH, senior vice president of behavioral and epidemiology research at the American Cancer Society, Atlanta, Georgia.
The report concludes that a comprehensive cancer control plan to support the implementation of evidence-based interventions to prevent cancer “has great potential to substantially reduce both the number of individuals diagnosed with and dying from cancer and the costs associated with cancer each year” in the United States.
It was published online October 10 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
“We are looking to provide the scientific evidence on cancer prevention, early detection, treatment, and survivorship, essentially to help inform the development of priorities for a comprehensive cancer control plan,” Gapstur told Medscape Medical News.
“Our real goal was to provide this evidence and this information in a single place, so rather than having a series of articles on each specific risk factor, one on tobacco, one on alcohol, one on healthy eating, active living, this report provides it all in one place,” she said.
The hope is that providing the evidence in a single place will bring other organizations together to implement a comprehensive cancer control plan, she said.
The first article in the Blueprint series established current trends and described the scope of the cancer problem.
“This one describes what we know about modifiable risk factors in the US and their contribution to cancer risk and then the evidence for prevention intervention to reduce those risk factors in the population,” Gapstur said.
Tobacco Control Is Top Priority
The expansion of tobacco control is the intervention that has the largest potential health benefits, according to the report.
“Smoking remains the number one cause of mortality in the United States, despite evidence from more than 6 decades. We know it causes premature mortality from multiple chronic diseases,” Gapstur said.
