Science journal estimates half of all cancers are preventable

Friday, March 30, 2012. Imagine a world where half the cases of cancer that now exist are suddenly nonexistent.

According to a review published on March 28, 2012 in the journal Science Translational Medicine..........
http://stm.sciencemag.org/


.............the idea is not at all far-fetched.

Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH and coauthors K. Y. Wolin and Sarah J. Gehlert of the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University in St Louis conclude that we now have the knowledge to bring about wide scale prevention of a disease estimated to kill 577,190 men and women this year in the United States alone. "We actually have an enormous amount of data about the causes and preventability of cancer," stated Dr Colditz, who is the Siteman Cancer Center's associate director of prevention and control. "It's time we made an investment in implementing what we know."

Dr Colditz and colleagues observe that lifestyle choices play a major role in the development of cancer. Smoking is responsible for a third of all U.S. cancer diagnoses and excess body weight for 20 percent. Diet, exercise levels, alcohol intake and other controllable factors are also involved.

Obstacles outlined in the article include continued widespread skepticism that cancer can be prevented, short term focus of cancer research due to the challenge of long term studies and limited research funding.............
http://www.lef.org/newsletter/2012/0330_Science-Journal-Estimates-Half-of-All...
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