‘Healthy lifestyle can prevent half of breast cancer cases’

There were approximately 47,600 new cases of breast cancer in the UK in 2008 — the most recent year for available figures. WCRF estimates about 42 per cent of these – roughly 20,000 cases — could have been prevented through healthier lifestyle choices.

The figures,which were released to mark WCRF’s Cancer Prevention Week,have led the charity to call on women to make the lifestyle changes necessary to cut their breast cancer risk.

Dr Rachel Thompson,Deputy Head of Science at WCRF,said: “These figures show that we still have a long way to go to raise awareness about what women can do to prevent breast cancer.

“It is very worrying that in the UK there are still tens of thousands of cases of breast cancer which could be prevented every year. Breast cancer can be prevented by cutting down on drinking,being more physically active and carrying less body fat.

“There is convincing evidence that alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer. In postmenopausal women there is convincing evidence that body fatness also increases risk and there is evidence that regular physical activity probably reduces the risk of breast cancer.”

The WCRF has also issued a 10-point recommendation for Cancer Prevention and Dr Thompson said following those recommendations would make “a real difference”.

“Overall,we estimate about a third of the most common cancers could be prevented through a healthy diet,being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight,” she said.

WCRF recommended being as lean as possible without becoming underweight; be physically active for at least 30 minutes a day; limit alcoholic drinks,if consumed at all,to two a day for men and one a day for women.

However,some campaign groups cautioned that breast cancer is a complex disease and that living healthily may not always be enough to avoid developing tumours.

“A woman’s lifestyle choices don’t mean for certain that she will or won¿t get breast cancer because genetic and environmental factors can also play a part,” Dr Rachel Greig,Senior Policy Officer at Breakthrough Breast Cancer,was quoted as saying.