16. The fraction of cancer attributable to lifestyle and environmental factors in the UK in 2010

Abstract

This chapter summarises the results of the preceding sections, which estimate the fraction of cancers occurring in the UK in 2010 that can be attributed to sub-optimal, past exposures of 14 lifestyle and environmental risk factors. For each of 18 cancer types, we present the percentage of cases attributable to one or all of the risk factors considered (tobacco, alcohol, four elements of diet (consumption of meat, fruit and vegetables, fibre, and salt), overweight, lack of physical exercise, occupation, infections, radiation (ionising and solar), use of hormones, and reproductive history (breast feeding)).Exposure to less than optimum levels of the 14 factors was responsible for 42.7% of cancers in the UK in 2010 (45.3% in men, 40.1% in women) – a total of about 134 000 cases.Tobacco smoking is by far the most important risk factor for cancer in the UK, responsible for 60 000 cases (19.4% of all new cancer cases) in 2010. The relative importance of other exposures differs by sex. In men, deficient intake of fruits and vegetables (6.1%), occupational exposures (4.9%) and alcohol consumption (4.6%) are next in importance, while in women, it is overweight and obesity (because of the effect on breast cancer) – responsible for 6.9% of cancers, followed by infectious agents (3.7%).Population-attributable fractions provide a valuable quantitative appraisal of the impact of different factors in cancer causation, and are thus helpful in prioritising cancer control strategies. However, quantifying the likely impact of preventive interventions requires rather complex scenario modelling, including specification of realistically achievable population distributions of risk factors, and the timescale of change, as well as the latent periods between exposure and outcome, and the rate of change following modification in exposure level.

Breast cancer among shift workers: results of the WOLF longitudinal cohort study

“…There are a number of risk factors for breast cancer suggested in the literature: age at birth of first child, number of children, obesity, use of contraceptive pills, hormone treatment, nulliparity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and short time of breast feeding (43,44). We tested potential confounding by entering contraceptive pills, other hormonal treatment, menopausal status, obesity, number of children, smoking (ever and current), alcohol intake, and educational level into the analyses.…”

What causes breast cancer? A systematic review of causal attributions among breast cancer survivors and how these compare to expert-endorsed risk factors

“…In contrast, published scientific evidence on risk factors for breast cancer report the importance of modifiable lifestyle behaviors in controlling and modifying cancer risk. Parkin, Boyd, and Walker [17] estimated that 26.8% of all new cases of breast cancer diagnosed in the United Kingdom in 2010 could be attributed partly to lifestyle factors. Similarly, preventability estimates on breast cancer report that up to 23.0% of (post-menopausal) breast cancer cases can be accounted for by obesity.…”

Cancer growth, metastasis and control likewise Go gaming: an Ising model approach

“…In modern times, these diseases imply strong social and financial problems and a heavy burden for the health systems (Curado and de Souza, 2014;Jemal et al, 2011). Of these factors, some of them are causal (negative) factors of the disease (Parkin et al, 2011) and others preventive (positive) factors (Kushi et al, 2012). There is no absolute dominant factor, but all of them have the same "weight", the diseases complexity and the need to adopt novel approaches to particularly for cancer.…”