Are Certain Cancers ‘Preventable’? According to a New Study: Yes; Study Shows Half of Cancer Deaths Linked to Preventable Factors

The study, published in August by The Lancet, reports “avoidable risk factors may be responsible for 44.4% of all cancer deaths and 42% of healthy years lost in 2019.”

Related: Which Sunscreen Should I Choose To Prevent Cancer?

The study, led by Dr. Chris Murray, was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and it looked at the relationship between cancer and risk factors. Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Dr. Murray and his colleagues looked at data around cancer deaths from 2010 to 2019, from 204 countries and looked at 23 cancer types and 34 risk factors.

The leading cancers in 2019 that had risk-attributable deaths around the world included tracheal cancer, bronchus cancer, and lung cancer, for men and women, Dr. Murray and colleagues found.

Data from the study showed that deaths from risk-attributable cancers like these increased worldwide by 20.4% from 2010 to 2019.

Preventing Lung Cancer

Many people know that smoking increases your risk of developing lung cancer. If you are a smoker, quitting today can end up saving your life. If you are a former smoker, you should screen for this disease. The sooner a cancer is diagnosed, the more likely you are to have more treatment options and potentially a better prognosis.

More men and women die of lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined, but how can screenings make a difference? Lung cancer usually affects people above the age of 65, but a small number of people are diagnosed younger than 45 years old.

Many lung cancers are found accidentally, but screening can help doctors diagnose lung cancers at earlier stages of the disease when successful treatment is more likely. Early-stage lung cancers that are removed with surgery may even be curable. But more often than not, lung cancer diagnoses come after the disease has already spread to other parts of the body making it more difficult to treat.

"In about 70 to 80 percent of patients who are diagnosed with lung cancer, unfortunately the cancer has spread outside of the lung and is not suitable for surgery," Dr. Patrick Forde tells SurvivorNet in an earlier interview.

But screening methods such as the low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan can save lives if those who are at risk participate. This test uses a very small amount of radiation to create highly detailed pictures of your lungs to reveal cancer long before initial symptoms. The State of Lung Cancer 2020 report from the American Lung Association found that screening every currently eligible person would save close to 48,000 lives, but only about 6 percent of Americans who are at high risk are actually getting screened.

Former & Current Heavy Smokers Should Get Lung Cancer Screenings Using CT Scan, Says Leading Expert

Cutting Back on Alcohol to Reduce Cancer Risk

Dr. Heather Yeo, a colorectal surgeon and Surgical Oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, tells us in an earlier interview, "When it comes to alcohol's influence on cancer risk, the data is mixed. High levels of alcohol can predispose people to certain types of cancerincluding pancreatic, liver, and colon," she says.

The American Cancer Society reports that alcohol consumption can increase your risk for various types of cancer. When it comes to cancers of the mouth, throat, voice box and esophagus, for example, alcohol increases a person's risk.

The ACS notes that drinking and smoking together puts you at a much higher risk for these cancers than drinking or smoking alone. But when it comes to drinking alcohol, a person's risk of breast cancer is lurking in the shadows.

There's a clear link between breast cancer and alcohol consumption. In November 2017, the American Society of Clinical Oncology published a statement citing evidence that links alcohol to multiple cancers and calling for reduced alcohol consumption as a way to cut people's cancer risk.

Cutting back on alcohol may positively impact your waistline too and help you to maintain a healthy weight, which can also reduce your cancer risk. Alcohol lowers inhibitions, making you more likely to eat pizza and cookies late at night than you would be if you weren’t drinking.

Alcohol Can Increase the Risk of Developing Breast Cancer

Preventing Cervical Cancer

Every year in the U.S., approximately 14,480 women will be diagnosed with cervical cancer. And nearly a third of women diagnosed will pass away from this disease.

If you get the HPV vaccine, your risk of getting cervical cancer decreases substantially. CNN reports how ” The first generation HPV vaccine cut cervical cancer rates among women by 87%, British researchers reported.”

In an earlier interview, Dr. Allen Ho, a head and neck surgeon at Cedars-Sinai, explains the potential impact of HPV. He says, "The vast majority of humans in the U.S., both men, and women, will eventually get infected with human papillomavirus. The important thing to know about HPV," says Dr. Ho, "is that there are many different strains, and only a couple of them tend to be more cancer-inducing."

"Probably less than 1% of the population who get infected happen to have the cancer-causing virus that somehow their immune system fails to clear, and over 15 to 20 years [it] develops from a viral infection into a tumor, and a cancer," explains Dr. Ho.

While the HPV vaccine is traditionally administered to adolescent girls, teenagers, and young women, older adults who don't have HPV can still very much benefit from receiving it as well.

The HPV vaccine is approved in the U.S. for people up to age 45, though it's recommended that children get it before they become sexually active, as the vaccine can prevent a lot of these cancers. Gardasil 9 protects against nine strains of HPV including the strains most likely to cause cancer and genital warts. But it can't provide protection if a person has already been exposed to HPV. That's why doctors recommend it for children as young as 9.

Should I Give My Kids the HPV Vaccine? A Leading Doctor On Why She Says "Yes!"

Minimizing Risk of Skin Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), 5.4 million basal and squamous cell skin cancers are diagnosed each year in the U.S. Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in the U.S.

Protecting your skin by wearing sunscreen and getting skin checks is so important. Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in the U.S., and you can protect yourself and lower your skin cancer risk by taking prevention steps.

In an earlier interview, dermatologist Dr. Dendy Engelman outlines five easy ways to protect your skin, and lower your skin cancer risk. She tells us:

1. Avoid sun during peak hours. This means from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It doesn't mean you should never go outside during the middle of the day, but make sure you're protected when you do venture outdoors.
2. Cover your skin and eyes. A wide brim hat and sun glasses will protect your face, the top of your head, your ears, and the delicate skin around your eyes.
3. Wear an SPF of 30 or higher. Plenty of facial moisturizers have SPF built into them. Reapply often.
4. Get an annual skin check. You can check your own skin for anything that looks out of the ordinary, but you should still get a yearly check to make sure you didn't miss anything. If you do happen to notice anything out of the ordinary in between checks, schedule an appointment to talk to your doctor about it ASAP it is always worth it to make sure.
5. Avoid tanning beds. "There's absolutely no benefit to going to a tanning bed," Dr. Engelman says.

Top 5 Ways to Protect Your Skin From Skin Cancer

Contributing: SurvivorNet staff

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